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Three of the top ten richest public universities in the United states, by endowment, are in the Midwest, potentially 5 if you want to count Pennsylvania as part
by wcunning 9y ago
Three of the top ten richest public universities in the United states, by endowment, are in the Midwest, potentially 5 if you want to count Pennsylvania as part of the Midwest (4 if you count Pittsburgh, 5 if you count Pittsburgh and Penn State)[0]. These are definitionally the university systems that don't require much state funding, and I'm perfectly happy having my state not spend a ridiculous amount on a university worth more than 1/6 of the entire state budget for the year. To reinforce the comment I'm responding to: Minnesota is #9 on that list and that's one of the states that cut funding. Clearly they're doing ok still.
To the anti-intellectual point, I would argue that while rural voters in Michigan might be somewhat anti-intellectual, they clearly get drowned out by the pro-intellectuals in the urban areas. Take a look at a county-by-county breakdown of voting sometime -- the entire state is red except for 4 or 5 counties, but the state often elects democrats to statewide office.
[0]http://www.businessinsider.com/richest-public-universities-in-america-2015-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/richest-public-universities-i...
- mylons 9y agoPennsylvania isn't considered the Midwest. It ends at Ohio. Eastern Pennsylvania is closer to NYC than it is to Chicago.
- wcunning 9y agoWell, as a Michigander, I think of the Midwest as the Rust Belt, which I realize may be disagreeable to some, like another commenter in this thread. That said, culturally speaking, Pittsburgh has far more in common with Cleveland than with Philadelphia. Pennsylvania is a very divided state, so I would count part of it as the East Coast and part as the Midwest, geographically if nothing else. But that very disagreement is why I called that part out separately.
- murph-almighty 9y agoStart driving down 76W and you'll see quite the opposite. Yes, eastern PA is urban, but after you get far enough west the only thing on the radio is country and gospel. I also wouldn't claim Pittsburgh is anti-intellectual considering the startup scene and the universities in the area. The suburbs around Pittsburgh are a bit of a different story.
- thousandautumns 9y agoAnd Western Pennsylvania is closer to Chicago than to NYC. Eastern Penn cities like Philly are definitely considered part of the East Coast, culturally, but western Penn such as Pittsburgh is definitely part of the Midwest.
- mylons 9y agoI made a typo. Western Pennsylvania is closer to NYC than Chicago. I did a google maps from the northwestern corner where I-80 crosses into Pennsylvania, to Chicago and NYC.
- bluthru 9y agoAs an entire state no, but Pittsburgh and the western half of the state definitely feels Midwestern.
- maxerickson 9y agoIn Michigan, the majority of students don't benefit from the huge endowment that UM has, the schools don't have financial ties. (Michigan State alone has larger enrollment than UMich and then there are quite a few more public universities and then also community colleges)
- rayiner 9y agoMeasuring intellectualism by voting pattern is :-/