Tuesday, August 21, 2007
More Name Playing in PA’s Education Landscape
We wrote a while back that the Pittsburgh Public Schools could drop “public” from its name, but they would still be public schools. So who would they be fooling? How about when a small college in southwestern Pennsylvania with 2,300 students becomes a university via state action? Surprising as it may sound, 16 colleges have become universities in the last ten years in the Commonwealth.
How does it happen? According to Department of Education regulations (Title 22, Chapter 22.51), “For university approval, exceptions…may be granted for exceptional educational reasons—such as…universities established for limited or special purposes—when the need for the exception is documented by the institution”. In plain terms, it happens like this: a college goes through a formal application process that includes an evaluation from Department of Education staff and requires approval by the Secretary of Education. Institutions are allowed to pursue an exception from the formal distinction the state grants them, thus explaining why a slew of colleges in western Pennsylvania have graduated from their college status.
The Department of Education does not keep statistics on how many colleges who applied for an exception to get its status changed to a university have been rejected. And there are opportunities for public comment and reaction to a college seeking a change, but there have been no objections raised by the current crop of universities.
Clearly, there is a marketing advantage, as was pointed out by a Department of Education official noted in a newspaper article last week. “Being a university seems to have a cache among foreign students that's lacking with the word college”. Seems like a bit of a bait and switch, but the college and university community seems awfully quiet. Maybe many of them are busy with focus groups and marketing gurus looking for their next competitive edge.
What’s in a name? Probably not much. As long as faculty and students are easily deceived, colleges will keep doing this.
How does it happen? According to Department of Education regulations (Title 22, Chapter 22.51), “For university approval, exceptions…may be granted for exceptional educational reasons—such as…universities established for limited or special purposes—when the need for the exception is documented by the institution”. In plain terms, it happens like this: a college goes through a formal application process that includes an evaluation from Department of Education staff and requires approval by the Secretary of Education. Institutions are allowed to pursue an exception from the formal distinction the state grants them, thus explaining why a slew of colleges in western Pennsylvania have graduated from their college status.
The Department of Education does not keep statistics on how many colleges who applied for an exception to get its status changed to a university have been rejected. And there are opportunities for public comment and reaction to a college seeking a change, but there have been no objections raised by the current crop of universities.
Clearly, there is a marketing advantage, as was pointed out by a Department of Education official noted in a newspaper article last week. “Being a university seems to have a cache among foreign students that's lacking with the word college”. Seems like a bit of a bait and switch, but the college and university community seems awfully quiet. Maybe many of them are busy with focus groups and marketing gurus looking for their next competitive edge.
What’s in a name? Probably not much. As long as faculty and students are easily deceived, colleges will keep doing this.
