I’ve gotten bad feedback on campus tours and even high school college nights for prospective students from several people, too. Not all, but enough to tell me it’s a problem, and it is costing the university good applicants.
So for all the grandiose talk about building dorms and whatnot, it’s pretty clear that the school doesn’t have the foundational stuff figured out yet, and it has nothing to do with how the students arrive on campus.
My biggest gripe is I don’t think the housing we are building encourages community. They are too big and many are gated off. People made fun of the Quad but I know lots of folks who bonded there and likely due to the scale.
Comparing my undergrad to UH is silly but the average dorm at my undergrad held 35 kids. And while we weren’t officially a residential college set up like Rice, first year dorms operated similarly to Greek Life. Dorms competed against each other in intramurals and held formal parties sponsored by the school and much more fun informal ones hosted by kids. I’m still active friends with 7 folks from Sherrell Hall and we all support Hobart.
When I took a kid to tour UH a few years ago the new dorms were way nicer with crazy amenities than even the upgraded ones at my undergrad but I wouldn’t change my experience.
I’d have loved to have seen smaller dorms with stoops and porches facing all the walkways encouraging public hangouts and a more human scale. Quite frankly, the Cougar Villages are awesome inside but give off prison vibes on the exterior.
I hope once the centennial happens, the administration focuses on staffing and funding for all colleges at UH that aren’t Bauer, Cullen, the Hilton, and Architecture. NSM and CLASS deserve way more funding than they get.
Then their experience is different from mine, and many people I knew. 6 months was not an exaggeration.
These were my issues with UH. I will not be finishing because of lack of support to finish even though a near 4.0 GPA (Got an A- to bring down the average). No support not just from the university but professors alike as I think they were too focused on their own research. IRB areas being a big part of my issues. Non-responsive to emails or not answering the questions I needed to know from those with the experience to answer them.
I was the type of “traditional” student many people here want at UH. Oh well, may try another university later to finish and justify some of those loans. Still wish the football team well though in most games.
Katie, as an International student I CHOOSE to do the exact same thing. I keep reading all kind of bs about commuter school, not commuter school. You either feel like a Cougar or you don’t. Yes I am passionate but it is so easy to “condemn” commuter students like they won’t feel like they are real Cougars. Way before Mrs. Khator we had a terrible administration. It cost us dearly. Some on this thread have no clues what was going on in the mid 80’s to mid 90’s. This period destroyed a ton of want to be Cougar fans. I choose the mindset that you choose Katie. Everyone is different but I am sick and tired and frankly pissed off that some of you dismissed students because they do no live on campus.
My degree is in Business, International Marketing. Marketing U of H or the lack of marketing U of H is the real reason why we have had issues filling up TDECU.
I am an optimist. When you fail you keep trying. That is what life is all about. Complaining gets you nowhere. We all love Case Keenum. Some of you should take a good look at Case’s body work and understand what “drives” him.
In defense of UH, this one is not a UH-specific problem; it’s an issue at basically all large research universities. Research is professors’ primary job, and they treat it as such.
Yep a zebra can’t change his stripes. His views of UH is still outlandish but the dead giveaway is he still have long arguments with @uhlaw97.
Got suspended on April 2nd and created a new account on April 7th. SMH
Yet…so many people here think everything is ROSEY and that those who are offering solutions are “UH Haters”.
Look in the mirror
Clearly one os the "The Highjacker " and the other is “Enrico Di Portanova”
Thankfully it isn’t up to you. People should not be forced to fork over $15K plus just so some people can feel better about themselves, which is basically what this is about.
Most people who go to UH are from the Houston area, and one of the reasons that they choose UH is that its academically excellent for a reasonable price.
Yep. Couldn’t be more obvious.
But its not at a reasonable price…they are paying Traditional School costs but only getting half of the full menu.
Again, i don’t expect most here to understand what they are missing because we haven’t had it offered since the 1950s.
Khator’s whole mission here is to transform a Commuter School into a Traditional University.
Her transformation objective has been crystal clear to those paying attention…i mean we are currently constructing outdoor gathering spaces for those LIVING on campus 24/7 and at a steep cost
Ill put you in the group that disagrees with Khator’s vision.
By the by The U. of Arizona has over 45,000 students and only 7500 live on campus.
Do they have a University district adjacent to campus?
Or a big Greek Row?
They have both
Yeah… that’s the difference there are things to keep them on (or within walking distance of campus) after class.
We have neither
That doesn’t make any sense.
The cost of tuition does not include living expenses unless you choose to live on campus or off campus. Most choose to stay at home with their parents. You can save an enormous sum of money doing that. I mean, that is what I did. I worked 20 hours a week the first three years of college, then full time the last year and a half, while taking a full load. I did not live on campus at any point during my time at UH. Never felt like I was missing out on anything. I had some friends on campus that I would hang out with. I had some that lived off of campus too. That is one of the benefits of going to a school like UH.
Here is the current tuition at UH for 2026:
Its $6,526 a semester for the Business, Engineering, Engineering-Technology and Architecture. For CLASS (my college), its $5,617 a semester. When you add in mandatory fees, it adds another $610. So now your are at $7,144 a semester, or $14K a year. Four years that is $56K. Not bad, although double what I paid 25 plus years ago ($5K a year, all in).
Cost of on campus housing? - Housing Rate Sheet | Student Housing & Residential Life | University of Houston
Cheapest is $3,170 a semester. That doesn’t include meal plans, which are another $6,000 a year.
So over 4 years (assuming you graduate that quickly), you would be looking at $48K. Now your total cost all in is over $100K. For a public university? Ridiculous. I paid less than that for law school.
Schools have a responsibility to make college affordable; we pay for it through tax dollars and are owed that. $56K is bad but $100K is much worse. Times are tough and are likely going to get tougher. This is why college applications are down.
Don’t disagree. It goes to my statements that being AAU does not necessarily make a school a better university. Many claim that because a school is AAU they must be better, but that is not true.
AAU just means you are a better research institution, not a better teaching institution. It is possible to be both, but not necessarily.
They are paying for P4 prices but are not getting all of the college experience as with equally priced P4 universities wirh more amenities for better college chapter.
Its why our alums send their kids to more traditional schools…they want their children to have what they did NOT experience at the University of Houston yet we are charging the same tuition rates…or more.
LSU charges in state tuition for Texas kids and im sure Oklahoma, Arkansas & Alabama does the same.
If yiu want a bare bones degree, per the cost, go to HCC or Lone star and commute till your foot falls off!
You can buy a new one with the money you save
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