I just finished my AAS and want to go on to get my bachelor's in business. I am seriously looking at Peru State College due to their low cost and their accreditation. However, their name is a bit weird and that worries me a little. When I first saw their name I thought it may be a college in the actual country of Peru. Anyone have experience going to this college? Is a funky name like this going to affect my job prospects?
Here is their progressive name-change history: 1865, Mount Vernon College 1867, State Normal School 1896, State Teachers College 1963, Peru State College Source: History and Heritage - Peru State College
What is your desired major? I can't say enough good things about Bellevue University. They have a ton of degree options. They're non-profit. The school is consistently ranked at the top of 1-20 for online degrees at the undergraduate level (for whatever that's worth to some people). They also have a number of accelerated options. I loved finishing my degree with them. It was a great experience. Perhaps best of all, any associate degree is accepted as satisfying ALL core requirements. In other words, all you'd have to do is complete your 36-hour major and a mandatory 9-hour Kirkpatrick series. All remaining hours (I believe 22) are open electives that can be satisfied with FEMA credits in direct transfer. This shaves a TON of time off your degree and lowers the price dramatically when you consider you only have to pay for 45 hours.
If I had a degree from PSC, I would list it on my resume as something like: BA, Peru State College (Nebraska) BA, Nebraska State College System - Peru State College That should eliminate any potential confusion. In fact, I would probably do this even if my degree was from one of the other schools in the Nebraska State College System, like Chadron State College or Wayne State College. These schools may not have funky names, but most people outside of Nebraska have never heard of them, so it seems reasonable to provide some additional info. Such info would be particularly helpful in the case of Wayne State College, because people often confuse it with Wayne State University (a larger and better-known school in Detroit). I think the NSCS schools would be more marketable if they rebranded themselves using the "Nebraska State" name. Their formal names could be something like "Nebraska State College at Peru", "Nebraska State College at Wayne", and "Nebraska State College at Chadron". They could still be known informally as "Peru State", Wayne State", and "Chadron State".
+1. Another form of this approach would list BA, Peru State College, Peru, Nebraska It's common to list location of schools attended. You could list your associate's as AAS, City Community College, City, State And you'd have made the point that PSC is a state college in Nebraska without appending anything special to its name, maintaining a parallel structure. Other college name confusions: Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas (contrast University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario) York University in North York, Toronto, Ontario (contrast University of York in York, England) Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts (contrast University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England) Oxford Graduate School in Dayton, Tennessee (contrast Oxford University in Oxford, England) Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California, the separate Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, the separate Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the separate Southwestern College of Business in Ohio and Kentucky. Add a separate Southwestern University in Texas, a couple Southwestern Community Colleges, and a program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary helpfully called "The College at Southwestern."
This is also true. And here are some other examples of confusing names: - Cornell College (in Iowa) vs Cornell University (in New York) - Wesleyan College (in Georgia) vs Wesleyan University (in Connecticut) - Miami University (in Ohio) vs University of Miami (in Florida) - Wheaton College (in Illinois) vs Wheaton College (in Massachusetts) - Columbia College (in Alberta, Canada) vs Columbia College (in British Columbia, Canada) vs Columbia College (in California) vs Columbia College (in Missouri) vs Columbia College (in South Carolina) vs Columbia College of Columbia University (in New York) The point is that it is entirely possible for different schools to have confusingly similar (or even identical) names. And the way to handle that is to simply list the location of the school, as well as its name.
BS, Business - Peru (Nebraska) State College? BS, Business - Peru State College of Nebraska? If someone can't be bothered to investigate a school by typing its name into an internet search bar, then there is no telling what else that person is screwing up at a place you are likely ill-fatefully considering working. And if they dismiss a college while knowing nothing but its name, then what else are they making uneducated assumptions about EVERY SINGLE DAY? fftopic: My favorite confoundenclature: 1) University of Maryland, University College. Yep. This college has a University College of a University. 2) Since SUNY is a part of USNY, we have Empire State College of the State University of New York of the University of the State of New York.
I'm with you, MC -- I've always thought that "University of Maryland University College" was a really strange name, all the more so in that "Maryland State University" isn't in use and would make a great alternative.
I agree but you might find some resistance to this name change from the alumni of Maryland State College, now known as the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore since the 1970 name change.
Peru State College does have a bit of an odd name but don't let that stop you from pursuing a degree through them. I completed my BS in accounting through PSC and they were great. They had excellent customer service. PSC is Nebraska's oldest school and has a long history. There are many schools with odd-sounding names, many of which have already been mentioned in this thread. Here are a few more: Eureka College (Ronald Reagan's alma mater) The University of Virginia's College at Wise (located in Wise, Virginia) Skidmore College Bard College at Simon's Rock Slippery Rock University College of Walla Walla Wooster College Sewanee, The University of the South