(03-23-2014 08:30 AM)geauxcajuns Wrote: (03-22-2014 07:11 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: (03-22-2014 10:24 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote: While that's not a bad try at the situation there is one fatal flaw, there is easily room for two major public schools in Louisiana. Mississippi and Alabama are both worse off and support two.
There is room of two major publics in Louisiana but you would have to close the doors of 5-6 of them and then designate someone to become that second major school to pull it off.
The Louisiana-Laffayette name situation has nothing to do with them developing into that second school. This is totally unlike the SUNY-Buffalo discussion for example where they are already pulling in more research dollars than any school in the LA-MS-AL region.
La Tech has a better shot at #2 because of their engineering college and location on the other side of the state. Lafayette is too close to Baton Rouge, IMO.
While I am not too familiar with SUNY-Buffalo, I do know that Louisiana-Lafayette is approaching $100 million in annual reasearch dollars and is a Top 100 National High Research University and was one of the top 10 fastest growing research universities in the country.
It also has an academic endowment that is larger than the entire UL System schools including La Tech, ULM, McNeese, Northwestern St, Nicholls and Grambling combined. Now that UNO has moved into the ULS that is no longer the case.
With the exception of US News and Report ranking, ULL is the clear number two university is all aspects. Enrollment, endowment, research budget, alumni, athletics and athletic facilities.
Over $300 million in on campus improvements are under way, over $115 million in athletic facility improvements are underway. Aside from LSU, we are the only university in Louisiana that is actually making such moves due to the financial support the Acadiana area with it's $6 billion dollar annual economy brings to the table.
I'm unique among fans here in that I've actually been to Lafayette. I liked the campus and athletic facilities but what struck me was how
SMALL Lafayette actually is as a city.
I'm not sure on some of your numbers but the $6 billion Acadiana economy you brag about isn't jack compared to anything.
Toledo (MSA)
Population: 651,429
GDP: 28.3 Billion
http://www.toledoblade.com/Economy/2013/...rowth.html
Acadiana
Population: 585,124
GDP: 6 Billion
The graduate enrollment at Lafayette hardly seems indicative of what you would expect from a #2 school.
Louisiana State-Baton Rouge (4,908)
University of New Orleans (2,326)
Louisiana Tech (1,799)
Louisiana Lafayette (1,564)
Southeastern Louisiana (1,326)
McNeese State (989)
Louisiana-Monroe (886)
Take a look at the graduate numbers in the MAC for comparison.
Buffalo (10,500)
Central Michigan (6,613)
Northern Illinois (6,497)
Kent State (6,115)
Western Michigan (5,096)
Eastern Michigan (4,798)
Toledo (4,456)
Ball State (4,401)
Akron (3,975)
Ohio (3,645)
Bowling Green (2,899)
Miami (1,642)
Even Miami University, a school priding itself as an undergraduate first university with little emphasis on the graduate still has more graduate students than the proposed #2 Louisiana flagship Lafayette.
300 million of planned expenditures on Lafayette's campus pales in comparison to the 2.6 billion dollar roll out at Ohio University. We made the New York Times for one of the most ambitious university upgrades in the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/busine...wanted=all
Ohio spent 329 million in fiscal 2014 alone on capital projects. I just don't think a 300 million dollar campus strategic vision is a lot to puff your chest out for.
True state flagship schools drop 300 million plus on the campus every year not 300 million over a 10-20 year period.
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LOUISIANA Facilities Update
