State university system
Encyclopedia
A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, or a similar entity such as the District of Columbia. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. Each state supports at least one such system.
Federal funded colleges and universities are limited to military personnel and government employees. Members of foreign militaries and governments also attend some schools. These schools include the United States military academies
, Naval Postgraduate School
, and military staff colleges.
A state university system normally means a single legal entity and administration, but may consist of several institutions, each with its own identity as a university. Some states—such as California and Texas—support more than one such system.
State universities get subsidies from their states. The amount of the subsidy varies from university to university and state to state, but the effect is to lower tuition costs below that of private universities. As more and more Americans attend college, and private tuition rates increase well beyond the rate of inflation, admission to state universities is becoming more and more competitive.
of 1787, which established the Northwest Territory
. It stated: "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Ohio University
(1804) was the first state school so established in the territory, with the other developing states following suit. On a national basis, the state university system was also assisted by the establishment of the Land-grant universities, under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
of 1862 and 1890.
The tradition of publicly funded state colleges began primarily in the southern states, where other private educational institutions were less developed. The University of Georgia
is the country's first chartered public university, established on January 27, 1785 by an act of the General Assembly of Georgia. However, the University of Georgia did not hold classes until 16 years later in the fall of 1801. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
, while chartered four years after Georgia in 1789, was the first state university to hold classes. Classes began at UNC in 1795, and UNC is the only state university to have graduated students in the 18th century. The University of South Carolina
was chartered in 1801 and held classes for the first time in 1805. The University of Tennessee
was originally chartered as Blount College in 1794, but had a very difficult beginning—graduating only one student—and did not begin receiving the promised state funds until 1807 when it was renamed East Tennessee University. The first state university that matches most modern definitions of the term—including a strict secular course of study, offering professional and graduate coursework, and allowing students to select their coursework—was the University of Virginia
. Established due to the work of Thomas Jefferson
and grounded in his philosophy of a strong secular state, UVA was chartered in 1819 and first held classes in 1825.
Determining which state university was the "first" is further complicated by the case of New Jersey
's state university system. Facing the embarrassment of being the only state left that had not established a state university, the New Jersey Legislature decided to commission an already existing private university as its state university, rather than build one from the ground up, as other states had done. Rutgers University
, which had previously been a private school affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church
, was designated as a state university by acts of the legislature in 1945 and 1956. It became a 'System' with the absorptions of Newark University in 1946 and The College of South Jersey in 1950, becoming Rutgers' Newark and Camden Campuses, respectively. Rutgers was chartered in 1766, nineteen years before The University of Georgia, but did not become the state university for another 179 years.
Castleton State College
in Vermont is the oldest state university in New England, chartered in 1787. This was soon followed by the charter of The University of Vermont
in 1791. However, neither institution was a "state university" in the modern sense of the term until many decades later. Castleton State began as the Rutland County Grammar School. It did not become a postsecondary institution until the campus became home to the State Normal School in 1867, which was privately owned despite its name, and did not become a state-owned institution until 1912. UVM was chartered as a private institution and did not become a public university until 1865.
The largest state university system is State University of New York
with over 400,000 students. However, the combined enrollment of the University of California
, the California State University
, and the California Community Colleges systems exceeds 2,300,000 students.
Many state universities were founded in the middle 19th century, in particular supported by the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
s of 1862 and 1890.
Many state universities—such as UCLA and Chico State
—were founded as normal school
s.
Following the Second World War
, many state universities were merged with smaller institutions to achieve economies of scale in administration and also to raise the prestige of the degrees granted by some smaller institutions. A prominent example of this is the State University of New York
, which is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community college
s in the world,.
During the 1970s, further mergers took place and the concept of a state system was widely adopted.
Some states have more than one state university system. For example, California has the University of California
(considered top-tier) and the California State University
(considered lower tier) as four-year university systems, and the California Community Colleges as its community college system.
s (often specified as community colleges
, technical colleges, or junior college
s), that is distinct from their university
system. Examples include the California Community Colleges System
, the Florida College System, and the Technical College System of Georgia
. In these states, colleges focus primarily on awarding two-year associate's degree
s and professional certificates
, while universities focus on four-year bachelor's degree
s and more advanced degrees. The California Community Colleges System is the largest in the world. In 2009 the Florida College System changed its name from the Florida Community College System, reflecting the fact that some of its colleges now offer four-year degrees. Some of its colleges were designated "state colleges", distinguishing them from community colleges in that they offer more four year degrees than community colleges.
Some universities with names of the form "University of" are not state universities at all. For example, the University of Pennsylvania
is a private university.
Federal funded colleges and universities are limited to military personnel and government employees. Members of foreign militaries and governments also attend some schools. These schools include the United States military academies
United States military academies
The United States Service academies, also known as the United States Military Academies, are federal academies for the undergraduate education and training of commissioned officers for the United States armed forces.There are five U.S...
, Naval Postgraduate School
Naval Postgraduate School
The Naval Postgraduate School is an accredited research university operated by the United States Navy. Located in Monterey, California, it grants master's degrees, Engineer's degrees and doctoral degrees...
, and military staff colleges.
A state university system normally means a single legal entity and administration, but may consist of several institutions, each with its own identity as a university. Some states—such as California and Texas—support more than one such system.
State universities get subsidies from their states. The amount of the subsidy varies from university to university and state to state, but the effect is to lower tuition costs below that of private universities. As more and more Americans attend college, and private tuition rates increase well beyond the rate of inflation, admission to state universities is becoming more and more competitive.
History
Consideration of public higher education was included in the earliest westward expansion of the US, with the Northwest OrdinanceNorthwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, passed July 13, 1787...
of 1787, which established the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
. It stated: "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
(1804) was the first state school so established in the territory, with the other developing states following suit. On a national basis, the state university system was also assisted by the establishment of the Land-grant universities, under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges, including the Morrill Act of 1862 and the Morrill Act of 1890 -Passage of original bill:...
of 1862 and 1890.
The tradition of publicly funded state colleges began primarily in the southern states, where other private educational institutions were less developed. The University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
is the country's first chartered public university, established on January 27, 1785 by an act of the General Assembly of Georgia. However, the University of Georgia did not hold classes until 16 years later in the fall of 1801. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, while chartered four years after Georgia in 1789, was the first state university to hold classes. Classes began at UNC in 1795, and UNC is the only state university to have graduated students in the 18th century. The University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
was chartered in 1801 and held classes for the first time in 1805. The University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
was originally chartered as Blount College in 1794, but had a very difficult beginning—graduating only one student—and did not begin receiving the promised state funds until 1807 when it was renamed East Tennessee University. The first state university that matches most modern definitions of the term—including a strict secular course of study, offering professional and graduate coursework, and allowing students to select their coursework—was the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. Established due to the work of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and grounded in his philosophy of a strong secular state, UVA was chartered in 1819 and first held classes in 1825.
Determining which state university was the "first" is further complicated by the case of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
's state university system. Facing the embarrassment of being the only state left that had not established a state university, the New Jersey Legislature decided to commission an already existing private university as its state university, rather than build one from the ground up, as other states had done. Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, which had previously been a private school affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
, was designated as a state university by acts of the legislature in 1945 and 1956. It became a 'System' with the absorptions of Newark University in 1946 and The College of South Jersey in 1950, becoming Rutgers' Newark and Camden Campuses, respectively. Rutgers was chartered in 1766, nineteen years before The University of Georgia, but did not become the state university for another 179 years.
Castleton State College
Castleton State College
Castleton State College is a public liberal arts college located in Castleton in the U.S. state of Vermont. Castleton has an enrollment of 2000 students and offers more than 30 undergraduate programs as well as master’s degrees in education...
in Vermont is the oldest state university in New England, chartered in 1787. This was soon followed by the charter of The University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
in 1791. However, neither institution was a "state university" in the modern sense of the term until many decades later. Castleton State began as the Rutland County Grammar School. It did not become a postsecondary institution until the campus became home to the State Normal School in 1867, which was privately owned despite its name, and did not become a state-owned institution until 1912. UVM was chartered as a private institution and did not become a public university until 1865.
The largest state university system is State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
with over 400,000 students. However, the combined enrollment of the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, the California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
, and the California Community Colleges systems exceeds 2,300,000 students.
Many state universities were founded in the middle 19th century, in particular supported by the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges, including the Morrill Act of 1862 and the Morrill Act of 1890 -Passage of original bill:...
s of 1862 and 1890.
Many state universities—such as UCLA and Chico State
California State University, Chico
California State University, Chico is the second-oldest campus in the twenty-three-campus California State University system. It is located in Chico, California, about ninety miles north of Sacramento...
—were founded as normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
s.
Following the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, many state universities were merged with smaller institutions to achieve economies of scale in administration and also to raise the prestige of the degrees granted by some smaller institutions. A prominent example of this is the State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
, which is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
s in the world,.
During the 1970s, further mergers took place and the concept of a state system was widely adopted.
Some states have more than one state university system. For example, California has the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
(considered top-tier) and the California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
(considered lower tier) as four-year university systems, and the California Community Colleges as its community college system.
State college system
Some states maintain a separate system for state collegeCollege
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
s (often specified as community colleges
Community colleges in the United States
In the United States, community colleges are primarily two-year public institutions of higher education and were once commonly called junior colleges....
, technical colleges, or junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
s), that is distinct from their university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
system. Examples include the California Community Colleges System
California Community Colleges system
The California Community Colleges System consists of 112 community colleges in 72 community college districts in the U.S. state of California...
, the Florida College System, and the Technical College System of Georgia
Technical College System of Georgia
The Technical College System of Georgia , formerly known as the Department of Technical and Adult Education , is the body which supervises the U.S...
. In these states, colleges focus primarily on awarding two-year associate's degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
s and professional certificates
Professional certification
Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task...
, while universities focus on four-year bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
s and more advanced degrees. The California Community Colleges System is the largest in the world. In 2009 the Florida College System changed its name from the Florida Community College System, reflecting the fact that some of its colleges now offer four-year degrees. Some of its colleges were designated "state colleges", distinguishing them from community colleges in that they offer more four year degrees than community colleges.
Historic names
During the growth and restructuring of the state systems, names such as University of California have changed their meanings over time.- In some cases, the unqualified name has become the official name of the university system that includes the institution which is the original bearer of the name. Examples include:
- University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
- University of IllinoisUniversity of Illinois systemThe University of Illinois is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three campuses: Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. Across its three campuses, the University of Illinois enrolls about 70,000 students. It had an operating budget of $4.17 billion in 2007.-System:The...
- University of California
- In other cases, the unqualified name remains the official name of an individual institution which is now part of a larger university system. Examples include:
- University of AlabamaUniversity of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
- University of HoustonUniversity of HoustonThe University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
- University of Alabama
- In some cases, the unqualified name now has no official status, but is used informally for either an individual university (particularly in sporting and similar contexts) or for the university system of which it is now part (particularly in administrative and academic contexts). Examples include:
- University of TexasUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
- University of WisconsinUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
- University of Texas
Some universities with names of the form "University of
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
is a private university.
See also
- Public Universities
- National Universities
- List of American state universities
- University RevolutionUniversity RevolutionThe University Revolution or Argentine university reform of 1918 was a general modernization of the universities, especially tending towards democratization, brought about by student activism. The events started in Córdoba and spread to the rest of Argentina, and then through much of Latin America...
External links
- History of the University of Texas.
- The Future of Flagship Universities, lecture given at Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
by Robert M. BerdahlRobert M. BerdahlRobert M. Berdahl is an American historian, author and university administrator. He was chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley from 1997 to 2004, and became president of the Association of American Universities from May 2006 to June 2011.-External links:*...
, historian and Chancellor, University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, discusses some of the history of the systems.