University of Kansas

[Anonymous]

When he's ready to live off campus, you'll be pleased with the low COL.

[Anonymous]

Kansas poster here w/DS at KU. DH & I also have KU undergrad degrees.

KU Honors Program is very good, so are Engineering and Business schools - new buildings for both, as well.

Kansas is on a slow road to recovery after Sam Brownback, but the next governor will likely be Kris Kobach, who is a million times worse. Moderates are working to take our state back in the legislature, but much depends on the August 2018 Republican Primary. If Moderates hold the line, then economic recovery in the state should continue. Higher Ed funding is abysmal, but that may improve over time - once again depending on the make up of our legislature.

KU is very greek-oriented, but there are other options for social life.

Lawrence is a fantastic college town and almost a suburb of Kansas City at this point. Jayhawk basketball speaks for itself.

I believe KU is offering in-state tuition for students with a 30 on the ACT or higher and probably some kind of GPA requirement. This is new for the coming school year so be sure to ask about it.

Overall, KU is worth a visit. My DS is happy there, very involved with many activities, and receiving a solid education at a very low cost when considering his scholarships.

[Anonymous]

^ Kansas poster adding that KU is actually quite diverse at this point, at least by Kansas standards. Students come to KU from all over the world and it is much more diverse than when DH & I were there 25 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kansas poster here w/DS at KU. DH & I also have KU undergrad degrees.

KU Honors Program is very good, so are Engineering and Business schools - new buildings for both, as well.

Kansas is on a slow road to recovery after Sam Brownback, but the next governor will likely be Kris Kobach, who is a million times worse. Moderates are working to take our state back in the legislature, but much depends on the August 2018 Republican Primary. If Moderates hold the line, then economic recovery in the state should continue. Higher Ed funding is abysmal, but that may improve over time - once again depending on the make up of our legislature.

KU is very greek-oriented, but there are other options for social life.

Lawrence is a fantastic college town and almost a suburb of Kansas City at this point. Jayhawk basketball speaks for itself.

I believe KU is offering in-state tuition for students with a 30 on the ACT or higher and probably some kind of GPA requirement. This is new for the coming school year so be sure to ask about it.

Overall, KU is worth a visit. My DS is happy there, very involved with many activities, and receiving a solid education at a very low cost when considering his scholarships.

OP here. Thanks very much for this detail, very helpful. Definitely putting it on our list to try and visit this spring or next fall.

[Anonymous]

Happy to help, OP. Try to visit on an "official" visit day, if you can. KU has a beautiful main campus, but it is expansive and very hilly (not all of Kansas is flat), so be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes. Here's a link that may help in scheduling your visit: https://admissions.ku.edu/visiting-campus

When you visit, you might want to consider staying here:http://theoread.com/ I have never even been inside, as that particular space used to be a little sandwich shop when DH & I were at KU..

Try to visit when school is in session. Spring or fall would be beautiful. I recommend a full day visit, allowing time to go down to Massachusetts Street in downtown Lawrence.

If your DC is interested in the honors program or engineering, see if you can get an appointment with either or both. I don't know if the honors program gives appointments to students unless they have been admitted, but the engineering school definitely does and it is worth the time.

Best of luck in the college search process!

[Anonymous]

Kansas is completely broke these days. I would be very worried about sending my kids there given the state of their economy. Public higher ed has to suffer there.

[Anonymous]

It's a good school in a great town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kansas is completely broke these days. I would be very worried about sending my kids there given the state of their economy. Public higher ed has to suffer there.

Not really.

[Anonymous]

^ I'm the Kansas poster. Of course higher education suffers here. Everything suffers here. We endured Sam Brownback for almost 8 years and he, along with ultraconservatives in our state legislature, almost destroyed Kansas. Average citizens fought to take our state back in the 2016 elections and we are still fighting in 2018. Higher education has been cut repeatedly and intentionally. These people do not want an educated populace. Brownback has gone to work for Trump now, but he left a clone to finish out his term so our prospects are not great in the governor's office. But our legislature is more moderate and hopefully even more so after November 2018.

Having said that, The University of Kansas is still an excellent institution - at least in engineering, business, and a few other colleges within the university. The William Allen White school of journalism and mass communications is also very good.

KU makes up for higher education cuts by reducing programs, hiring less qualified faculty, raising tuition, increasing student fees, and relying on the private sector to bolster the strong engineering and business schools. For top students, KU is an excellent value and it has now restricted admission, sending lower performing KS students to other Kansas Regents universities.

KU is absolutely worth a look if the student is interested and motivated to navigate a larger state school. DH and I are both alums and we have fared well, though we have stayed here in Kansas. I cannot speak to what a student's prospects are otherwise, but students come to KU from around the world, so there must be some worth to a degree.

I came back to post because I feel it is very important for people to understand that higher education has absolutely suffered under an extremist governor and Legislature. This is a lesson for America that cannot be ignored. But it is also worthy to note that Kansans are a tough lot. We are not all ignorant rednecks and we are working hard to take back our state. It's not Harvard, but KU is the pride of the state. Frankly, I think all the cuts to hiigher education motivated many former Jayhawkers to get involved in our 2016 elections and will continue to motivate us in 2018.

I realize this is not the political forum, where I sometimes post, but it is impossible to have a fair conversation about The University of Kansas without addressing the elephant in the room, which is the Kansas economy as a result of Sam Brownback.

[Anonymous]

PP - Question from a fellow former Jayhawk: what sandwich shop was in the space where the Oread Hotel is now? Glass Onion? I’m having trouble remembering what was where from when I was at KU decades ago!

[Anonymous]

I seem to recall it was Planet Sub. Pretty funny to think about a large hotel being on that space now. The design is art deco but it just doesn't quite pull off the look and really could have been executed so much better. Oh well, it's apparently a very popular place to stay when families/guest visit KU.

[Anonymous]

Then it probably is the same space as The Glass Onion. As I remember, there was a Yello Sub on the first floor. I haven’t been back in at least 20 years, so I am sure everything is vastly different!

And to the OP - KU was a great, solid school. I was an out-of-state student in the arts and humanities. I also participated in the honors program and studied abroad. Overall, I had a wonderful experience there.

[Anonymous]

Ah yes, Yellow Sub! But I graduated in 1986, so it's a miracle I even remember the "sub" part of the sandwich shop's name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP - Question from a fellow former Jayhawk: what sandwich shop was in the space where the Oread Hotel is now? Glass Onion? I’m having trouble remembering what was where from when I was at KU decades ago!

Before Glass Onion, it was the Yellow Sub!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ I'm the Kansas poster. Of course higher education suffers here. Everything suffers here. We endured Sam Brownback for almost 8 years and he, along with ultraconservatives in our state legislature, almost destroyed Kansas. Average citizens fought to take our state back in the 2016 elections and we are still fighting in 2018. Higher education has been cut repeatedly and intentionally. These people do not want an educated populace. Brownback has gone to work for Trump now, but he left a clone to finish out his term so our prospects are not great in the governor's office. But our legislature is more moderate and hopefully even more so after November 2018.

Having said that, The University of Kansas is still an excellent institution - at least in engineering, business, and a few other colleges within the university. The William Allen White school of journalism and mass communications is also very good.

KU makes up for higher education cuts by reducing programs, hiring less qualified faculty, raising tuition, increasing student fees, and relying on the private sector to bolster the strong engineering and business schools. For top students, KU is an excellent value and it has now restricted admission, sending lower performing KS students to other Kansas Regents universities.

KU is absolutely worth a look if the student is interested and motivated to navigate a larger state school. DH and I are both alums and we have fared well, though we have stayed here in Kansas. I cannot speak to what a student's prospects are otherwise, but students come to KU from around the world, so there must be some worth to a degree.

I came back to post because I feel it is very important for people to understand that higher education has absolutely suffered under an extremist governor and Legislature. This is a lesson for America that cannot be ignored. But it is also worthy to note that Kansans are a tough lot. We are not all ignorant rednecks and we are working hard to take back our state. It's not Harvard, but KU is the pride of the state. Frankly, I think all the cuts to hiigher education motivated many former Jayhawkers to get involved in our 2016 elections and will continue to motivate us in 2018.

I realize this is not the political forum, where I sometimes post, but it is impossible to have a fair conversation about The University of Kansas without addressing the elephant in the room, which is the Kansas economy as a result of Sam Brownback.

Thanks for posting this PP and for fighting for change back there. KS is a forerunner of what we can expect to see nationwide as Trump puts many of Brownback's efforts into motion at a national level. It's terrifying. We've been in DC for almost 30 years and could unfortunately never stomach moving back there. It's lovely but far too extremist for us politically and religiously - as my family has been caught up in this. DH's family are mainly educators, including one who's a prof at KU and they would agree and expound on the state of education there.