Endowments amongst P5 schools.

[CrazyPaco]

Couldn't find anything on Pitt. Paging @CrazyPaco

Pitt was primarily a commuter school for a stretch wasn't it? I'm sure it's a combination of that and a bad advancement office.

Really hasn't been more of a commuter school since the 1950s when Pitt acquired Schenley Quad and what is now the William Pitt Union and used them all as dorms, but the urban setting probably doesn't lend itself to the feel of a closed, gated campus that may cultivate those sorts of ties as well.

In general, though, private schools are always better at alumni donations than public.

I think when Pitt became state-related in the 1960s, it became a more of a budget, 13th grade option for area high school students in those first years. Enrollment took off, but out-of-state students dropped from around 35% to something more like 5% in the early 70s. Perhaps this was indicative that many locals viewed it more of a school of financial necessity, not of premium choice, and thus maybe some of these alumni felt less of a personal tie to their choice of university. I don't know. Pitt's reputation has soared in the last 20 years and is bringing many more out-of-state students (40% of this past year's freshman class at the Pitt campus) indicative of its growing reputation and destination school status. So things might turn around, however, general trends of philanthropic giving to universities in general is trending down. But Pitt should be doing better than it is.

 

[CrazyPaco]

No. Not at all. I didn’t imply anything. I made an observation.
I can expand. For decades Ohio State made tickets available to its alums regardless of whether they had season tickets. One game a year, 2 tickets.
They dropped that about a decade ago because they have too many alums,
Alums also have privileges across all campuses…library, gyms, etc.
If you came to any conclusion about how Pitt treats its alums, that comes from your own insecurities.

Ohio State still makes single game tickets available to their alumni before they go on sale to the general public. Donors get early access to the process. Would be a nice problem for Pitt to have...where demand for tickets outstrips supply.

Library borrowing privileges at Ohio State is only available for those that become friends of the library: $50 a year. Previously it was part of sustaining alumni association membership with a $75 a year donation, but that program seems to have ended. For Pitt alumni, it is currently $25 for all alumni or $20 for alumni life members.

Don't know of any university that lets alumni use their student rec facilities for free (if at all). At Ohio State is over $600 a year for alumni.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

I did. To me, it demonstrates that Nit alumni would rather throw their money toward sports than academics. To each his own, I guess….

We shouldn’t forget the fact that the Nits produce waaay more alumni than Pitt does.

If you count their 87 branch campuses they have the largest alumni in the country. They probably have more dropouts and flunk outs than we do graduates per year

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Is the point of this thread to suggest one of the Big 2 will pick a school for expansion based in its non-athletic endowment???

Actually my point is....there are alot of schools who are in the business of being a research/academic institution first, and an athletic/football factory second. Some are just big enough to bridge the divide. But others, it shows you there definitely is a divide.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

If you count their 87 branch campuses they have the largest alumni in the country. They probably have more dropouts and flunk ads than we do graduates per year

You might be right. But I’d like to see their dropout rate, only because it behooves them to pass everyone with a pulse - provided that they keep paying their tuition on time.

 

[pittdan77]

You might be right. But I’d like to see their dropout rate, only because it behooves them to pass everyone with a pulse - provided that they keep paying their tuition on time.

They have a lot of associate degree programs so the dropout rate for those isn't very high. So far as four year programs, if you wash out of engineering, you move to something else. They have their share of dropouts but they don't make things especially rigorous. One of my degrees is from Penn State and I knew a guy that just enrolled in classes and dropped a few of them every semester. Over seven years he finally amassed enough credits they handed him a degree. Not sure i'd use him as proof of anything. He came from money and I think his family was a pretty heavy donor. He moved right to Wall Street and was retired in a dozen years.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

They have a lot of associate degree programs so the dropout rate for those isn't very high. So far as four year programs, if you wash out of engineering, you move to something else. They have their share of dropouts but they don't make things especially rigorous. One of my degrees is from Penn State and I knew a guy that just enrolled in classes and dropped a few of them every semester. Over seven years he finally amassed enough credits they handed him a degree. Not sure i'd use him as proof of anything. He came from money and I think his family was a pretty heavy donor. He moved right to Wall Street and was retired in a dozen years.

I can’t speak for the difficulties at Nitland now, but the saying used to be was “the hardest thing about Penn State was getting accepted onto their main campus”. Once you got accepted, very few students ever flunked-out, and those who did “partied-out”: they crashed and burned in their party atmosphere (stopped going to class, didn’t turn-in written assignments, etc.).

 

[pittdan77]

I can’t speak for the difficulties at Nitland now, but the saying used to be was “the hardest thing about Penn State was getting accepted onto their main campus”. Once you got accepted, very few students ever flunked-out, and those who did “partied-out”: they crashed and burned in their party atmosphere (stopped going to class, didn’t turn-in written assignments, etc.).

Well, I'm not sure how things are now but I never did get them a copy of my HS transcript (no idea why they needed it, tbh).

 

[MJG-90]

One of the only situations I know of where a charity takes general donations intended for general purposes but directs a chunk of it into an endowed fund is the Five Diamonds....who is behind THON.

Four Diamonds.

Four Diamonds | Childhood Cancer Organization | FTK®

Four Diamonds support kids with cancer treated at Penn State Health Children's Hospital with superior care, comprehensive support and innovative research.

www.fourdiamonds.org

 

[JHud986]

Four Diamonds.

Four Diamonds | Childhood Cancer Organization | FTK®

Four Diamonds support kids with cancer treated at Penn State Health Children's Hospital with superior care, comprehensive support and innovative research.

www.fourdiamonds.org

What is your point?

 

[MJG-90]

What is your point?

Obviously to correct the poster who had the name of the organization wrong. Is that frowned upon around here?

 

[CrazyPaco]

Obviously to correct the poster who had the name of the organization wrong. Is that frowned upon around here?

Yes, thanks for the correction. I meant Four Diamonds.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I can’t speak for the difficulties at Nitland now, but the saying used to be was “the hardest thing about Penn State was getting accepted onto their main campus”.

And of course back then the easiest way to get accepted at Penn State main was to go to one of the Penn State community colleges for two years and get decent grades, which meant that you were essentially guaranteed a spot at the main campus for your last two years.