for what it’s worth, the graduating classes at Memorial are like 4x the size of Kinkaid.
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All I get out of reading here is that if you are a low income or disadvantaged student - GET LOST BECAUSE UH DOES NOT WANT YOU - or at least some here do not.
There are many smart kids that come from low income or single parent households but have to work after school or help with younger siblings and cannot take time to participate in a bunch of clubs. They should very much be allowed to attend UH and get a good degree that can help them move up in social and economic classes.
UH should not be about trying to admit like the Ivy’s, but make the campus about wanting to be a part of it. Not an admissions problem - a campus problem. Have things to do on campus at night, places to eat at night, etc… yes, a nearby grocery store. It does not have to be fancy, just not closed after 8pm.
That will help students connect with campus.
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80% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
St John’s is definitely doing better than that.
https://www.sjs.org/college-counseling/college-matriculation#
From 2019-2023, 11 to Harvard, 12 to Brown, 9 to Columbia, 14 to Cornell, 13 to Dartmouth, 9 to Princeton, 18 to Yale, 9 to Penn.
Add to that:
4 to Stanford
25 to Vanderbilt
54 to Chicago
5 to MIT
22 to Duke
15 to Georgetown
7 to Northwestern
32 to Rice
Were they HYP or Cornell and Penn (not Wharton)? I know a runner who got Penn Engineering but chose UT as a walk on runner. Lower cost and they thought better engineering program. Hard to say when the Ivy engineers are going into consulting or IB.
My kids school only the top 1% were getting into HYPSM without athletics. The athletes were record setters in swimming. A 1600 SAT with top 5-10% rank turned down to Rice so went UT business.
A smart low income kid is a great ROI. For them and the university.
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Would a cap at 35,000 undergrads and a 7,000 grad school limit be enough to weed out the low ROI students?
It would definitely cut down on the part timers and ones who use UH as transfer university.
I remember when the total enrollment was at about 37,000 when I was in school.
Now you are hitting on the conflict with AAU status.
Those pushing AAU need more grad students as that is what brings in the research dollars. Capping grad student numbers can limit research dollars. AAU does no good for undergrad students so it becomes a balancing act to get both happy…
We are already near the 7,000 post grad mark, which is more than enough in proportion to our undergraduate numbers.
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For AAU that would put UH at the bottom of proportions of graduate to undergraduate students. Went through most schools from Big 12, SEC and B1G and they range from 20-over 50% graduate students. UH is at 15%.
Add in schools like Harvard and other academic powers then they have much higher percentages of graduate students.
Yeah.
I just looked up my two AAU alma maters.
One has a nearly equal mix of undergrads and graduates (CWRU).
The other (Illinois) has about a 60/40 mix.
Keep those grad students rolling in!
10000 people in CLASS…wow. That is a lot of folks getting liberal art and social science degrees in a world leaving those behind. I wonder how many are passionate about that and how many just wound up in CLASS to get a degree?
Why put a cap in when we can take more? Our goal as a state public school should be to provide a quality education and a great college experience for kids who want to come here…
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Yep UT has a cap and A&M has been expanding. I think we’d like to expand a bit more but have also raised standards. The enrollment cliff is coming in a year or two.
The enrollment cliff may benefit us more than hurt us.
I’m preface this question by saying OF COURSE IT IS THE CHILD’S FINAL DECISION but…
How many sons/daughters of UH alums SELECT UH as their #1 School Option.
I imagine our “Legacy Connection” is not as engraved in our culture as it is with the majority of families of other P4 schools.
Many start when the child is days old by draping them in their “FAMILY’S LEGACY” College gear.
Yes, I will continue to compare us with other P4 schools because that is the group Renu and Tilman WANTED us to be a part of.
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Do we have the resources to physically support a 50,000 undergrad and post grad campus in the 2030s and beyond?
You can’t talk about building a campus culture if everyone is taking online courses.
Birth rates have been steadily declining the past 20 years even though the Houston population has increased.
Millennials are prime right now to have kids but many of us are not having 3+ kids like Boomers or Gen X
This says a lot more about society than the colleges and students when money is the only thing valued.
Really need a set goal, which I expect none of us here have knowledge of from the university. AAU vs sports fans are not always going to mix as a university goal. Plus other factors such as a school for all to get a good education vs elite ivy league type thing.
I think focusing on the campus life would be the biggest impact as this time for developing loyalty, but that is one perspective. Have things to do for the students on-campus would be great. Even visiting, I would have stopped by earlier in a day had the Satellite area been open during the last several years. They are beautifying the campus with some of their plans like tearing down the education building, but does that improve student experience when there is still no place to eat at night or nothing to do on campus? Maybe that is also being worked on, but have not seen anything. (Also do not know what all is going into the Satellite replacement - might be stuff there).
If the school wants AAU, then more grad students are needed to bring in research $$$. But it is not good to grow more than facilities can handle. Does that mean reduce undergrad numbers? maybe. But then most people become fans of their undergrad school first. Some grad students become fans, but not as many usually.
Either way, a solid visions is needed (I expect Khator has one), that we on this board might not have in unity.
I think that the best plan would be a) as you say, more graduate students for AAU metrics, AND b) more traditional undergrads via a freshman housing mandate.
It’s the only way that I know of to help achieve BOTH goals. It appears that ship “b” has sailed, unfortunately.
Speaking of…
Has anyone heard of an update fro the Centennial Campus Upgrade Project?
Yes, we have a little time to have it ready for 2027 BUT it does involve demolishing a building , possibly removing the fountain plus major landscape upgrades.
Do we have a demo and construction date schedule?