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I'm curious to know if there is any connection between a state university and a city/metro area outside of that state as there is between Chicagoland and the University of Iowa?
I'm eliminating, for the sake of argument, metro regions that straddle the state line of the state in question. Kansas City is obviously strongly attached to the Univ. of Kansas, but then again, it is on the state line and half its metro area actually is in Kansas. And DC's connection to next door UMd is so obvious it would have to be disregarded and has no bearing in this question. I'd even question whether or not the NYC-Rutgers connection is relevant here insofar as the university is virtually within the NYC metro area.
Iowa is the smallest state in the Big Ten region by far. It alone has no really large city. In fact, it is the only B10 state with no pro-sports. Yet though the state is small and, in fact, the Univ of Iowa is actually the smallest of the B10 publics (only Northwestern is smaller among all conf schools), its enrollment is still very much in line with that of other conference schools.
But due to lack of in-state pressure to get in (due to Iowa's small size), a good percentage of the enrollment comes from out-of-state. I read recently (and will admit this is a lower number than I've seen before), only some 58% of the university is made up of in-state students.
The majority of the out-of-staters are coming from Chicagoland, particularly suburban Chicago. They come in droves. I think the only out-of-state university that can compete with Iowa in numbers of Chicago students is IU, but IU itself has a far higher percentage of Indianans than Iowa does Iowans.
Iowa City is in eastern Iowa, the part closest to Chicago. Its Big Ten roots made a connection with the big city to the east. The university maintains an office in DT Chicago and nowhere else out of state. A few years back, Iowa jumped a the opportunity to play No. Ill. Univ. at Soldier Field in a win/win situation for both universities...NIU getting exposure on a major stage and Iowa pumping its alumni base and strong presence in Chicago.
The Chicago Tribune is available everywhere in Iowa City. Iowa City is drawn to the Cubs and Bears. The Chicago connections are everwhere. The university has even been jokingly referred to as "the University of Illinois at Iowa".
How unique is the Chicago-UIowa connection? Are there other examples of a city/metro completely removed from the state line that is so much a part of a state university in another state?
Are there connections that I don't know about, perhaps Dallas-OU, Bay Area-Oregon, Boston-UNH, Atlanta-Auburn....or is the Chicago-Iowa relationship unique?
I have no idea what the statistics say, but a lot of kids from the Twin Cities go to school at Madison; while we had the University of Minnesota in our own backyard, many students wanted to go away for school. Madison offered similar perks (big school with a good reputation) and, thanks to reciprocity, MN students paid the in-state (in-state Minnesota rates, that is) to go there. I don't think it's the same thing as what you're describing at Iowa, but the Twin Cities-Madison connection seems pretty strong.
I have no idea what the statistics say, but a lot of kids from the Twin Cities go to school at Madison; while we had the University of Minnesota in our own backyard, many students wanted to go away for school. Madison offered similar perks (big school with a good reputation) and, thanks to reciprocity, MN students paid the in-state (in-state Minnesota rates, that is) to go there. I don't think it's the same thing as what you're describing at Iowa, but the Twin Cities-Madison connection seems pretty strong.
Madison is well known for all the Minn kids who go there through reciprocity. Your example is a good one, uptown.
I think where Iowa differs from UW though is that UW has a major city instate, Milwaukee, plus a large out of state contingent from Chicago as part of its mix.
Iowa's relationship with Chicago is different in that Iowa has far more out of state students, no major metro area in state and no city out of state (M/SP, StL, KC, Milw) that comes close to having the relationship with the university the way Chicago does.
I have no idea what the statistics say, but a lot of kids from the Twin Cities go to school at Madison; while we had the University of Minnesota in our own backyard, many students wanted to go away for school. Madison offered similar perks (big school with a good reputation) and, thanks to reciprocity, MN students paid the in-state (in-state Minnesota rates, that is) to go there. I don't think it's the same thing as what you're describing at Iowa, but the Twin Cities-Madison connection seems pretty strong.
It's strong, but Minnesota is dominated by the U of M. Chicago has no such equivalent since the U of I is in Champaign, and is far more competitive academically than the U of M in terms of admissions (although not quality necessarily -- the U of M is a great school.)
It's strong, but Minnesota is dominated by the U of M. Chicago has no such equivalent since the U of I is in Champaign, and is far more competitive academically than the U of M in terms of admissions (although not quality necessarily -- the U of M is a great school.)
That might be the reason. Plus as the regional hub Chicago is going to draw in a lot of Iowa alums. Maybe Iowa is just getting the residual effects of how the universities in Illinois are seen in the state.
That might be the reason. Plus as the regional hub Chicago is going to draw in a lot of Iowa alums. Maybe Iowa is just getting the residual effects of how the universities in Illinois are seen in the state.
Good points.
For all the reasons cited, I think the OP has made a strong case that the Chicago-Iowa connection is unique.
This topic would make an interesting sociology thesis.
I hasten to mention the other unique connection the City of Chicago has to an out-of-state school-- the University of Notre Dame.
The OP framed the question in relation to state schools only, and ND is of course a private school, but I would argue that the "Chicago-Notre Dame" connection is perhaps also unique in the U.S., and with a rich tapestry of social history behind it to boot--perhaps even deeper than that of the "Cub fans from the Cornfields" connection.*
*I'm not a Chicago Cubs scholar, but I believe this phenomenon goes back to the 60's or 70's when WGN, which carried and owned the Cubs, was the only "cable TV" station available in Iowa that televised baseball games.
The Dallas-OU connection runs in reverse, in a manner of speaking.
There aren't huge numbers of Dallas kids that decide to attend OU. However, there are large numbers of OU alumni that end up living and working in Dallas after graduation.
In short, Dallas kids don't go to OU, but OU kids grow up and go to Dallas.
The Dallas-OU connection runs in reverse, in a manner of speaking.
There aren't huge numbers of Dallas kids that decide to attend OU. However, there are large numbers of OU alumni that end up living and working in Dallas after graduation.
In short, Dallas kids don't go to OU, but OU kids grow up and go to Dallas.
that clearly fits the kind of connection i was suggesting in the first place. and despite the midway location between Norman and Austin, I would also assume that Dallas had some connection to OU like it obviously does to UT make it the site of the annual OU-UT football game.
Lots of Californians at the University of Colorado. There is no reciprocity agreement, and out of state residents pay cost plus (to make up for the discount given in-state students).
This fall, university officials estimate that 644 freshmen at CU-Boulder are from California -- making up 9 percent of the freshman class. Behind California as top feeder states are Illinois and Texas.
One thing to consider is that there is a bit of a gap between the University of Illinos and the rest of the public universities in the state. No disrespect is meant to any grads from those places (as both of my parents attended and met each other at one of those schools), but there's no clear #2 "upper middle tier" school in the same manner as, say, Michigan State compared to the University of Michigan. So, at least at my fairly competitive suburban Chicago high school alma mater, the University of Iowa, Indiana and Purdue were the most popular choices for the kids that couldn't get into Illinois but had clearly better numbers than what was required for Illinois State or the other in-state choices. Even the state of Iowa itself has a clear #2 school in Iowa State even though it has a much smaller population than Illinois.
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