Vanderbilt’s new San Francisco campus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts?

I don’t know why it’s necessary? And that poor art school where the current students knew nothing about it and just our above to begin their next semester.

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2026/01/13/vanderbilt-university-to-establish-full-time-academic-campus-in-san-francisco/

Vanderbilt seems to have a gazillion dollars these days. And they are certainly bringing it when it comes to the major sports. Football, basketball, baseball and so on.

Interesting times. This is all very new for anyone that went to Vandy over the past ten years or so. Vandy basketball is top ten presently. Vandy football is the same. Same with women's basketball. Vandy is a major sports school in 2026.

It's all very weird.

It’s called taking out loans.

Vanderbilt is not borrowing anything. But they are certainly making some choices. I have no idea what Vanderbilt is doing with all this real estate. From Manhattan to Palm Beach to San Francisco. That's a lot of prime real estate? What's the plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts?

I don’t know why it’s necessary? And that poor art school where the current students knew nothing about it and just our above to begin their next semester.

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2026/01/13/vanderbilt-university-to-establish-full-time-academic-campus-in-san-francisco/

Vanderbilt seems to have a gazillion dollars these days. And they are certainly bringing it when it comes to the major sports. Football, basketball, baseball and so on.

Interesting times. This is all very new for anyone that went to Vandy over the past ten years or so. Vandy basketball is top ten presently. Vandy football is the same. Same with women's basketball. Vandy is a major sports school in 2026.

It's all very weird.

They don’t have a gazillion dollars though. Not even in the T20 for largest endowments. Perhaps that’s why it’s relatively easy to “donate”one”s kid in.

This is wrong. They’re #18

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/universities-with-the-biggest-endowments

[Anonymous]

Nashville sucks, so good idea.

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt's president came from the University of Chicago, whose present debt load is over 60% of its endowment value. It's a local and national scandal in higher ed. Seems he's learned from it and wants to saddle Vandy with a similar debt load. Basically every questionable university president out there had their administrative start at UC. Fun times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nashville sucks, so good idea.

I unironically think this troll comment plays a part. They want more lay prestige across the country and are chasing where the money is: West Palm Beach, Manhattan, and now SF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nashville sucks, so good idea.

Nashville doesn't suck at all. For college cities, it's a good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nashville sucks, so good idea.

Nashville doesn't suck at all. For college cities, it's a good one.

It’s a fine city to drink in and not much else. You’d have a lot more fun in NY, LA, SF, Boston, Austin, Chicago… it really is a one dimensional place.

[Anonymous]

Tech

AI

Tech

AI

Tech.

Did I mention internships? For a subset of students, this is smart. It is a small expansion that students who want tech interniships can tap into at the right time.

Santa Clara U punches WAY above its weight for a reason. That reason is location.

We are not interested in Vandy. But if we were, I’d endorse this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tech

AI

Tech

AI

Tech.

Did I mention internships? For a subset of students, this is smart. It is a small expansion that students who want tech interniships can tap into at the right time.

Santa Clara U punches WAY above its weight for a reason. That reason is location.

We are not interested in Vandy. But if we were, I’d endorse this.

I guess I get this but Vanderbilt is much better in life sciences and healthcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts?

I don’t know why it’s necessary? And that poor art school where the current students knew nothing about it and just our above to begin their next semester.

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2026/01/13/vanderbilt-university-to-establish-full-time-academic-campus-in-san-francisco/

Vanderbilt seems to have a gazillion dollars these days. And they are certainly bringing it when it comes to the major sports. Football, basketball, baseball and so on.

Interesting times. This is all very new for anyone that went to Vandy over the past ten years or so. Vandy basketball is top ten presently. Vandy football is the same. Same with women's basketball. Vandy is a major sports school in 2026.

It's all very weird.

They don’t have a gazillion dollars though. Not even in the T20 for largest endowments. Perhaps that’s why it’s relatively easy to “donate”one”s kid in.

This is wrong. They’re #18

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/universities-with-the-biggest-endowments

Off by 2, but they clearly don’t have gazillons with that ranking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt's president came from the University of Chicago, whose present debt load is over 60% of its endowment value. It's a local and national scandal in higher ed. Seems he's learned from it and wants to saddle Vandy with a similar debt load. Basically every questionable university president out there had their administrative start at UC. Fun times!

Best response by far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tech

AI

Tech

AI

Tech.

Did I mention internships? For a subset of students, this is smart. It is a small expansion that students who want tech interniships can tap into at the right time.

Santa Clara U punches WAY above its weight for a reason. That reason is location.

We are not interested in Vandy. But if we were, I’d endorse this.

I guess I get this but Vanderbilt is much better in life sciences and healthcare.

Perhaps they have a growth mindset and the wherewithal to do something about it? This is a stab and growing in relevance, not just popularity. I imagine the talent pool of professors will be rich.

I don’t ow how it will be implemented, but the move is wise.

Acceptance rates are checkers. Future departments/majors and a need to stay ahead in education is chess. At least they are taking solid action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tech

AI

Tech

AI

Tech.

Did I mention internships? For a subset of students, this is smart. It is a small expansion that students who want tech interniships can tap into at the right time.

Santa Clara U punches WAY above its weight for a reason. That reason is location.

We are not interested in Vandy. But if we were, I’d endorse this.

I guess I get this but Vanderbilt is much better in life sciences and healthcare.

Perhaps they have a growth mindset and the wherewithal to do something about it? This is a stab and growing in relevance, not just popularity. I imagine the talent pool of professors will be rich.

I don’t ow how it will be implemented, but the move is wise.

Acceptance rates are checkers. Future departments/majors and a need to stay ahead in education is chess. At least they are taking solid action.

Being a leader in healthcare is a much better route and makes a ton of money though. Even Stanford wouldn’t be the same without the massive presence that comes from Stanford Med. Healthcare is arguably much more lucrative and has more industries for a student to go into than tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts?

I don’t know why it’s necessary? And that poor art school where the current students knew nothing about it and just our above to begin their next semester.

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2026/01/13/vanderbilt-university-to-establish-full-time-academic-campus-in-san-francisco/

I'm in SF and I saw that they acquired the CCA building in the southeast neighborhood called Design District, near Portrero Hill. Seems odd as the culture of Vanderbilt and SF and this location (urban, industrialized, recently gentrified and still a bit gritty) couldn't be more different.

As someone also familiar with SF, there is a perverse logic to this acquisition. The location is an area redeveloped with upscale housing and amenities, not far from Chase Center (Warriors) and Oracle Park (Giants).

Perfect for a school known for wealthy students who can claim to have lived in SF while insulating themselves from what remains of the grittier parts of the city. The more adventurous ones can go slumming by walking over to the Mission to enjoy a variety of ethnic cuisines, unimaginable in Nashville, after hanging out at Dog Eared Books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tech

AI

Tech

AI

Tech.

Did I mention internships? For a subset of students, this is smart. It is a small expansion that students who want tech interniships can tap into at the right time.

Santa Clara U punches WAY above its weight for a reason. That reason is location.

We are not interested in Vandy. But if we were, I’d endorse this.

I guess I get this but Vanderbilt is much better in life sciences and healthcare.

Perhaps they have a growth mindset and the wherewithal to do something about it? This is a stab and growing in relevance, not just popularity. I imagine the talent pool of professors will be rich.

I don’t ow how it will be implemented, but the move is wise.

Acceptance rates are checkers. Future departments/majors and a need to stay ahead in education is chess. At least they are taking solid action.

I generally agree with this. Nashville will never be the center of the world. But Vanderbilt seems to have some ambition, and are placing themselves accordingly. I haven't seen anything to suggest they are expanding thier class, so this just seems like more existing opportunites for a standard Vanderbilt class. Not a terrible thing at all to have a semester in NYC, SF, or WPB.