Thomas Edison State College now a University

tesc.edu redirects to tesu.edu, which is a good thing because I'll continue typing the former for months.

From the announcement page: Being known as a university more accurately describes the type of institution Thomas Edison is today, especially in the minds of prospective students, potential donors and the general public. It also reflects the success the school has had expanding graduate programs and its plans to develop new programs in the coming years.

 

inb4 what's the difference between college and university.

 

I heard about this change being in the works a few months ago.

Honestly, it saddens me a bit.

I think we overuse the term "university" these days. And I was looking forward to earning a degree from TESC. Now I'll have to settle for the same degree from TESU. No functional difference, mind you, but I feel like an era has ended.

 

So now all that TESC merchandise becomes collectible.:indifferent:

 

I don't know what the fascination is with "university". All the Massachusetts 4-year state colleges changed to universities, and it's cause confusion among the public, along with very mixed feelings from alumni.

Dartmouth College and Boston College offer many graduate programs, including doctorates, and they seem to be content being colleges.

 

What's the change in a college once it become a university? Probably about 10% more tuition.

 

The word has more meaning in the states that regulate it. New Jersey is one of the few states that regulates the use of the word "university." TESU had to apply and receive approval for the name change. The process took a little over a year. TESU has an okay selection of undergraduate and graduate programs and is in the process of developing a doctoral program. On the other hand, you have a school like American Sentinel University that only offers a handful of nursing and business programs.
Online Distance Learning Programs | American Sentinel

 

Ah, but did you notice that re-issued diplomas will have a note on them, according to https://ssl.tesc.edu/ddiploma.php:

Looks like TESC - excuse me, TESU wants to have their cake and eat it, too - charge $35.00 for a new diploma, yet cover their legal butts in the process. I can't say I blame them, nor the myriad of graduates who feel the need to get their jollies by having a diploma that says university on it.

I think I'll take a pass. The only difference I perceive is that, suddenly, I have graduated from three universities instead of two universities and a college. I believe the proper expression for that is, "BFD." But I think I'll leave my CV as it is. It says that my M.A. is from Vermont College of Norwich University (which no longer exists), and that my Ph.D. is from The Union Institute (which changed its name to UI&U a few years after I graduated).

 

Actually, I really like the idea of changing its name to University as long as it is public not going for private likes Excelsior College (FKA Regents College). I also their new logo/seal as well instead the old clock.

 

I don't know, Tekman, that old clock seemed to have an element of nostalgia to it.

 

The supposed distinction between a college and a university isthat colleges focus on teaching whiler universities focus on research.

 

I was under the impression that a college usually specializes in one area of study.

A university is a collection of specialized areas (multiple colleges).

As a matter of fact, many universities refer within their walls as the "College of" to these specializations.

 

The word "college" can mean multiple things and you're addressing some of the diverse usage of the word within higher ed.

At King's College (PA) you cannot say that the school specializes in one area of study. It is divided into different "schools" (i.e. The McGowan School of Business).

At a university, the division is usually into smaller "colleges" where there are multiple degree programs offered in (even somewhat) related areas. There are also "schools" where, typically, only one degree is awarded. A colleague of mine at Cornell explained that the Cornell School of ILR is a "school" because they only offer degrees in Industrial and Labor Relations and that they would have to offer some other field of study in order to be a "College." Then again, at the University of Scranton I could have studied any number of possible majors and fields of study at the Kania School of Management (located a lovely walk through the quad from the UofS College of Arts and Sciences). But there is no universal rule to this and so different universities do different things.

I can study business, nursing, physician assistant studies, history or english at Kings. So what's the "specialized" area that the school is focusing on? In reality, they could become a university (as they offer Masters degrees) they just haven't opted to make that change.

Nearby, Misericordia University only recently changed their name after decades of offering masters degrees. Their structure as "College Misericordia" and "Misericordia University" is the same. They didn't add anything. They didn't subtract anything. They became no more or less specialized than they were 30 years ago.

In short, some schools use the terms more consistently than others.

 

I understand that in NY state an academic instition can only be a University if it offers a doctorate.
If NJ has a similar regulation is there a TESU doctorate program in the future???????????::smile:

 

Is that so? I thought every state-owned school in New York state was called the State University of New York ... all 64 campuses.

 

The CUNY schools are also state owned. So, no, just being state owned doesn't mean you are SUNY. It has to do with which system sponsors the school.

Regents College (now Excelsior) for example, was never a SUNY or CUNY school (which would have made it accountable to the Board of Trustees of either system). Regents was a project of the NYS Board of Regents, so it operated outside of either system in a scheme not terribly dissimilar from how the NYSBOR has the authority to award the M.D. degree to medical school graduates who graduated from programs that didn't award said degree (e.g. Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery). It isn't a SUNY function and your degree isn't going to say "SUNY" it's going to say "New York State Board of Regents." SUNY and CUNY (as well as every other university and college in the state) both derive their authority from NYSBOR.

There are also SUNY community colleges. So, being a "SUNY" school does not make you a university since schools like SUNY Broome are two-year community colleges, even though they are absolutely part of the SUNY network.

 

If NJ has a similar regulation is there a TESU doctorate program in the future???????????:

Yes. Nursing. After that, they are talking about others. Got this from a representative yesterday when talking about how much it would cost me to get e TESU diploma ( I thought $35 was a bit much, but what do I know. I graduated from TESC in October 1994)

 

If you ever come to Canada, you'll find that "university" and "college" are not synonyms up here, "university" having higher status. Then again, I'm not sure they'll differentiate between TESU and CTU.