OT: Worst college in Nebraska is...
- Thread starter artguy68
- Start date
Dana College....... Their graduation rate the last decade is the lowest in the nation.
I have a difficult time believing graduates of Peru State are riddled with student debt. Tuition and fees at Peru is 1/4 the cost of a school like Doane or Hastings.
Still can’t believe my school shut down.
I think the last serious proposal to move it involved Nebraska City, back in the late 90s.
Take a lap, you Bobcatsker...
most of you are too young to remember the 'new' colleges in the 60s...Pershing and Hiram Scott
I think I read somewhere like 25% of all colleges will close in 10 years. Probably a good thing, that market is way oversaturated.
One of my favorite and best teachers in high school at Broken Bow went to Peru State!!!! John Sweeney. He helped many students and adults with education!!They aren't moving. And this stadium is actually pretty sweet.
Thats the only thing keeping those schools alive right now.Even when the gov't starts paying for everyone to go? Free money.
I do love the Oak Bowl.They aren't moving. And this stadium is actually pretty sweet.
When it was proposed in the early/middle 2000’s to move the college to Nebraska City, a lot of people in SE Nebraska freaked out about it and it was a very touchy subject to people from Auburn to Falls City. They were having huge enrollment and financial issues. The current president has done a good job of increasing enrollment and the school has an incentive to add even more students by adding more athletic programs and JV for Volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball. In the long run, moving the college would have been good for the school as the city of Peru is a dump. The campus and athletic facilities are pretty nice for an NAIA program. They just remodeled an old elementary school into a football field house and they have plans to build an indoor practice facility.They aren't moving. And this stadium is actually pretty sweet.
Hey, my dad graduated from Peru State! First person in our family to get a degree.
That is the key for those schools...you add as many sports as you can...you offer "scholarships" to anyone and everyone that will attend...you HOPE they stay but you know most leave after the first year (or first semester), so you make some cash off of them and then you do it all over the next year.
I'm not so sure. I teach as a small college in Michigan. Students could care less about what sports are offered. What they care about are good teachers, good programs, and good educational facilities with the latest technology. Sports programs make a difference at large schools, but aside from the athletes themselves, students don't opt for small colleges because of their athletics.
I don't mean that they care about the sports as in...being a fan...I mean that it is easy to "trick" HS seniors that play a varsity sport to come to your NAIA school with a "scholarship" as the enticement. Just in my teaching career, I have never had one student go to one of the small schools in Nebraska that didn't have some sort of athletic ride that hardly covered anything.
So, I totally agree with about the kids not picking the small schools to be a fan...they don't. You are right about that.
2 things
Played NAIA Football I the big scheme of things the scholarship is not that big of deal, but for a marginal student it kept me in the ‘family’ and kept me eligible, graduated and just retired ,
2nd played in oak bowl in mid 80’s in our case they put the visitors on home side so home team would talk to students lol, as I remember we got heckled pretty hard .
Played NAIA Football I the big scheme of things the scholarship is not that big of deal, but for a marginal student it kept me in the ‘family’ and kept me eligible, graduated and just retired ,
2nd played in oak bowl in mid 80’s in our case they put the visitors on home side so home team would talk to students lol, as I remember we got heckled pretty hard .
Do you remember how many kids left your team and the school? Just curious, because it seems like a lot of those guys leave pretty quickly.
Retention rate at most of the NAIA schools is pretty low. I figure it's two fold. Most NAIA schools are private. Once the year 1 scholarship money runs out, year 2 is pretty expensive. Kids change their minds on major and find schools they can do it cheaper....a little bit of buyers remorse.
#2, decide sports aren't what they want to do for the next 3 years.
Oh yeah, for sure...
You go from playing in HS where the entire town or student body shows up...then you go party after the game...to playing in college where no one on campus even knows there is a team. And...it is a job.
OP- is there an article you pulled that data from?
The campus is gorgeous. New athletic facilities, new performing arts center, updated dorms, remodeled performing arts building. The college is massively improving. I was there from 99-2003 and literally watched it transform.
An above poster was correct, the city of Peru is an absolute dump (before the flood.) Nothing there And the buildings on their downtown street are very run down.
The campus is gorgeous. New athletic facilities, new performing arts center, updated dorms, remodeled performing arts building. The college is massively improving. I was there from 99-2003 and literally watched it transform.
An above poster was correct, the city of Peru is an absolute dump (before the flood.) Nothing there And the buildings on their downtown street are very run down.
Peru is a public school trying to compete with private schools so they are going to try to use the private school model and bring in as many athletes as you can and make money off of them. The difference is, a private school offers $15,000 in scholarships and the kid still pays 25,000 to go to school there. Peru offers a $1000 scholarship and the kid pays $13,000 to go to school there.
Honestly it was some clickbait article, but I thought it made for good discussion. I listed the criteria they used.
Strikingly, the worst school in, I think, Arizona, had a 3% graduation rate. 3%!!!
Oh yeah, I know the drill. It works to some extent. The key for those NAIA schools is the pride that comes with an athletic scholarship (no matter how small) and hooking the parents.
I truly believe some kids decide to play ball in college just so they can put some commitment picture on twitter.
My buddy has a nephew that committed to play baseball at a small ass private school in Nebraska...where there are 50 kids on the team...and just like you said...He was so proud and humbled to commit to the school.
So tuition is 35K a year...he is getting at best a 1/4 scholarship (probably not even that much) and will be taking horrible road trips to small little towns to play ball...
We predict that by the end of the first semester he will make a new commitment to UNL...to be a regular student and have fun.
I haven't lived in Nebraska for nearly 20 years, so I won't claim to know much about the current status or performance of Peru State. Maybe it should close, or move, or whatever - I don't have an opinion on that.
But I do think there is something to be said for colleges that stick to their mission, even if it doesn't allow them to fare well in various statistical ratings. For example, if a state college graduates a lot of elementary school teachers, of course the average salary of those graduates will be dismal. But, the world needs elementary school teachers. There's a school of technical agriculture in western Nebraska that graduates a lot of veterinary technicians and welders. I'm sure very few become millionaires, but they are sorely needed and rarely wanting for employment.
So the fact that there are still colleges that don't go out and hire high-profile administrators, raise tuition and change their name to "Something University" is probably a good thing. Plenty of that going on as it is.
But I do think there is something to be said for colleges that stick to their mission, even if it doesn't allow them to fare well in various statistical ratings. For example, if a state college graduates a lot of elementary school teachers, of course the average salary of those graduates will be dismal. But, the world needs elementary school teachers. There's a school of technical agriculture in western Nebraska that graduates a lot of veterinary technicians and welders. I'm sure very few become millionaires, but they are sorely needed and rarely wanting for employment.
So the fact that there are still colleges that don't go out and hire high-profile administrators, raise tuition and change their name to "Something University" is probably a good thing. Plenty of that going on as it is.
