I looked at IUP recently because someone mentioned it as a good place to study music. 60% of students have SAT scores below 1000. Probably a product of crappy small town public schools in PA (I graduated from one!) but something to keep in mind for some of these schools if you have a more competitive student who is just lacking the stats for UMD-CP.

I'm sure there's a range among these PA public schools and that they all have some decent programs. A friend of mine has taught at Bloomsburg and West Chester and liked both places.

Juniata?

Looking at the CDS for each, you will find a large PA contingent at most of these schools. The following are freshman OOS % rates.

Shippensburg - 7%
Millersville 10%
East Stroudsburg - 23%
Bloomsburg - 10%
Indiana of PA - 5%
Kutztown - 14%
Slippery Rock - 10%
West Chester - 14%

By contrast Pitt is 35%, Penn State 41% and Temple 28%.

I was surprised how low the % was at IUP. I seem to hear a lot of talk about the school in DC area.

We visited Shippensburg recently and it was fine but did not overwhelm us. The dorms are all new and very nice. Classrooms and library seemed a little dated. There is not much around campus and it seemed very quiet on a Saturday, although it was early.
Got the feeling based on the other guests that most of the kids are from small towns in PA within a 100 miles of campus.

Anonymous wrote:I hear West Chester is good for merit, as my very high achieving niece was looking there for “pre med”. She figures it would be less intense than some of the more selective schools (and cheaper with merit); and she wants a good undergrad gpa, and they have a good record of their grad getting into med school. She has a Few options so Im not sure where it is on her decision list currently .

Minimum requirements for merit aid are 3.5 GPA and 1250 SAT.

I hear West Chester is good for merit, as my very high achieving niece was looking there for “pre med”. She figures it would be less intense than some of the more selective schools (and cheaper with merit); and she wants a good undergrad gpa, and they have a good record of their grad getting into med school. She has a Few options so Im not sure where it is on her decision list currently .

My brother-in-law teaches at Millersville and always says great things about the environment. He’s a very good and caring professor.

They're solid schools. My niece is currently at IUP in the honors college, and I've had many friends and relatives attend Ship, Millersville, and West Chester. A lot of teachers (all PA state schools), two doctors (West Chester), math/accounting (Ship & Millersville), etc. I consider that set to be similar to Frostburg, Towson, and Salisbury. Penn State has a large network of 2-year schools that end up serving the community college population and/or folks focused on transferring to main campus. This set of schools gets folks intending to stay for (and graduate) in 4 years, though none of them have high 4-year graduate rates. Lots of reasons for that, but worth thinking about. Ship, Bloomsburg, and West Chester are the highest on that measure.

Anonymous wrote:We are in PA and are about to get started with the process. But I've heard that a lot of kids in our town who don't like our in state options head to Ohio University or University of Dayton. I know of people going to Slippery Rock to study special education so it may be known for that. Have you considered Temple? It seems to have gotten more popular and I only hear good things from my friends whose kids go there.

OP here. We are also looking at Ohio and Dayton, although Dayton is crazy expensive ($55k).

I have a friend who is a professor at Indiana U of PA, which is an hour or so from Pittsburgh. Another acquaintance who teaches at Slippery Rock. They are both really happy-the focus is really on teaching and their tenure process is not so crazy competitive so the staff are less pressured and stressed like they might be at a larger state school. The classes are small so they can really gets to know their students (not all of them obviously).

The negatives are that many of them are in really small towns with very little to do. At least at IUP the student body is split between kids from Pittsburgh and Philly and kids who grew up within 50 miles of campus and have never been outside the state. There is currently a lot of tension between the entire PASSHE system staff and the chancellor over wages. They all went on strike last year. Tuition (while still low) is expected to increase more rapidly, and the universities have felt pressure to raise money buy building fancy dorms and adding fees etc to recoup costs because they are getting less state money.

We are in PA and are about to get started with the process. But I've heard that a lot of kids in our town who don't like our in state options head to Ohio University or University of Dayton. I know of people going to Slippery Rock to study special education so it may be known for that. Have you considered Temple? It seems to have gotten more popular and I only hear good things from my friends whose kids go there.

*chose different schools.

Both of my stepsons seriously considered Shippensburg, but in the end choose different schools. I've been to two open houses there and *I* fell in love with it. Very nice campus, the students we met were very nice (and these weren't ones directly participating in the open house and *had* to be nice). The distance was nice too, an easy drive, not too close to home, not too far away.

West Chester has been known for a strong music program. Some of the others are filled with small town PA kids. You need to check out the specialties at each. I think they have accessible professors.

We are in MD and DD is not in love with any of the in state options. Any experience with some of the lesser known PA state schools, which are somewhat affordable from out of state.

Shippensburg
Millersville
East Stroudsburg
Bloomsburg
Indiana of PA
Kutztown
Slippery Rock
West Chester