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Columbus Business First wrote
OSU nation’s largest school again
Monday, October 20, 2008
Ohio State University held onto its title as the largest campus in America measured by enrollment and broke one of its long-standing records as well, the school said Monday.
University data puts enrollment at Ohio State’s main campus in Columbus at 53,715 students this year, up 2 percent from 52,568 a year ago. That surpassed Arizona State University’s Tempe campus, which has 52,734 students, and the University of Florida’s Gainesville campus, which has 51,413 students.
OSU’s Columbus campus has been ranked the nation’s largest for three consecutive years. Arizona State took the top spot in 2005.
Related Story:
Breaking news:
Latest technological breakthrough in solar technology brought to you by OSU.
The last 5-10 years has seen the enrollment of freshman with ever increasing ACT and SAT scores with more graduating within the top percentage of their class, which probably means more arrogant collar flippin douchebags. In all seriousness though, that is an enormous talent pool assuming most of them didn’t come here for seven years of puking and screwing.
here’s hoping for 75,000+
Now if we could only incubate a successful solar company in this city and join the solar future bandwagon. I’d rather manufacture photovoltaic cells, or whatever, than car parts, unless those car parts are for fuel effecient cars.
Now if we could only incubate a successful solar company in this city and join the solar future bandwagon. I’d rather manufacture photovoltaic cells, or whatever, than car parts, unless those car parts are for fuel effecient cars.
I’m pretty sure that all the OSU diplomas around here have done a lot to insulate Columbus from job losses seen elsewhere in the state. I’m in total agreement that I’d love to see some solar manufacturing going on around here.
If you don’t like football, whatever. I seriously cringe to think what this city would be like without the university. Anyone seriously think we’d be on Forbes top 10 upcoming tech cities if we didn’t have OSU? I think the attraction for a lot of businesses is the readily available talent pool.
Now if we could only incubate a successful solar company in this city and join the solar future bandwagon. I’d rather manufacture photovoltaic cells, or whatever, than car parts, unless those car parts are for fuel effecient cars.
While the research can go on anywhere where there are researchers and the infrastructure to support them, the manufacturing is more likely not going to happen in Ohio. My guess is you’ll see that set up in Arizona or New Mexico, or somewhere else in the South or Southwest. Solar will become viable there before it does in Ohio. The curvature of the earth makes the difference in our latitudes actually significant.
On the original topic:
OSU could easily have had more than 70,000 already if they hadn’t (a) jacked up tuition so much in the early 2000s and (b) increased their standards for admission to make the school a little more of a white-collar, second-generation school than a traditional land grant institution. It’s not Northwestern or Notre Dame, but the change was visible between when I arrived in 2000 and when I graduated in 2004. I’m actually surprised that we’re still able to top the size charts.
Yeah . I had a real chance of playing football forr the buckeyes but when they raised the academic standards I was questionable.
Ball state is ranked 20th in the BCS!
Not necessarily true: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050402466.html
Columbus is at a latitude of 40 while Munich, a large city in southern Germany, is around 48. Germany leads the world in the production of solar energy. Some here in central OH have converted to solar but I couldn’t afford to even with the tax breaks. The more solar panels produced would mean cheaper panels for all, right? And why not build them here – we could use the jobs.
You can get an education at OSU every bit as good as what you’d get at Harvard, and you can do so while still paying a lot less than Harvard (though still too much) and getting Adriatico’s delivered.
Ergo,
OSU > Harvard.
Questions?
Good.
Class dismised.
Actually, there is a huge solar panel manufacturer, perhaps the largest in the country, or even the world, in Northwest Ohio. Check out the link:
http://investor.firstsolar.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=338775
You don’t have to be in a sunny place to manufacture the panels.
[quote="pixlfarmer"]
If you don’t like football, whatever. I seriously cringe to think what this city would be like without the university. Anyone seriously think we’d be on Forbes top 10 upcoming tech cities if we didn’t have OSU? I think the attraction for a lot of businesses is the readily available talent pool.
I agree with you completely. The amount of research going on in OSU medical center and Comprehensive Cancer Center @ OSU creates a great deal of expertise for private companies to work with. Look ate Batelle right on the edge of OSU. Without OSU this city would really be hurting. Even if you dislike the scarlet and gray, be thankful they are here.
woo! go bucks!
Actually, there is a huge solar panel manufacturer, perhaps the largest in the country, or even the world, in Northwest Ohio. Check out the link:
http://investor.firstsolar.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=338775
You don’t have to be in a sunny place to manufacture the panels.
Fair point, and it’s good to see a future-oriented manufacturing firm not just operating but expanding in Ohio. That said, I still have to admit I’m nervous for them, because transportation costs are high and not likely to be going anywhere but up (especially from the current levels, which are well off their summer peaks), so shipping large amounts of heavy panels to places where solar is likely to be in more demand does strike me as money left on the table. That said, I have to trust that they know what they’re doing better than me as a casual observer.
Actually, there is a huge solar panel manufacturer, perhaps the largest in the country, or even the world, in Northwest Ohio. Check out the link:
http://investor.firstsolar.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=338775
You don’t have to be in a sunny place to manufacture the panels.
Fair point, and it’s good to see a future-oriented manufacturing firm not just operating but expanding in Ohio. That said, I still have to admit I’m nervous for them, because transportation costs are high and not likely to be going anywhere but up (especially from the current levels, which are well off their summer peaks), so shipping large amounts of heavy panels to places where solar is likely to be in more demand does strike me as money left on the table. That said, I have to trust that they know what they’re doing better than me as a casual observer.
One thing Ohio really has working for it is its central location. We’re a day’s drive from 50% of the country’s population. Granted, those baking deserts aren’t nearby, but if solar power is to work cost effectively, it will have to be able to generate power in environments like Ohio’s (and North Carolina’s and Wisconsin’s and Ontario’s.) New developments in tubular rather than flat panels are a source of hope on this front.
The central location was admittedly one of our greatest assets during the height of what is now the Rust Belt, and the renaissance of freight rail could do good things for Ohio manufacturing because we’re on a number of critical east-west routes (especially those coming through or going to Chicago, which is a tremendous amount of traffic). However, with respect to solar, unless they’ve come up with ways to manufacture much more efficient panels than I’ve seen news of so far–and I do follow solar power development news, since I’m convinced that that’s our best long-term renewable bet–we’re not there yet. The motherlode is of course a panel that gets high enough conversion efficiency to make the far-flung suburbs of megacities like NYC and Chicago solar-viable, which would almost instantly make suburban sprawl almost indefinitely sustainable (high surface area per foot of depth and minimal shadows from other buildings). I think we’ll get there. I just don’t think we’re there now. Rooftop solar seems like a much more perfect fit for sprawling, sunny locales like Phoenix and Las Vegas.
I think solar could be a great energy source right here in the midwest. Yes, solar is more efficient in sunnier locals but you don’t need a cloudless day to generate power. As I mentioned ealier, Germany leads the world in solar produced power and they’re further north than we are and have a similar climate. The German govt. is subsidizing this effort. I read in the Dispatch a few weeks ago about a homeowner here in Columbus who has panels on his roof – he sells power back to AEP!
In the future I would love to charge my Chevy Volt with power from my solar panels! Unfortunately it’s to costly right now to install panels on my roof.
here’s hoping for 75,000+
Actually, Ohio State has done a remarkably good job of maintaining racial and socio-economic diversity on campus. In recent freshman classes 19-23% of entering freshman were first generation students which compares with a 15% figure nationally and a 10% figure for the most selective public universities.
Also, the percentage of students at Ohio State coming from families of over 100K incomes is roughly 25% as opposed a 38% average at other selective public universities and a 54% average at selective private universities.
Taking the above into consideration with Ohio State being recently listed by various publications as one of the top campuses in the nation for African-Americans, Hispanics and gays, and I don’t see it turning into Miami of Ohio anytime soon.
And Ohio State is not going to hit 75K anytime in our lifetimes. Undergraduate enrollment has steadily declined (with a few short term upticks) since the mid 1970s.
Currently, Ohio State is taking in just a little over 6K students in their freshmen classes, with 4 and 5 year grad rates improving, look for undergrad enrollment to eventually stabilize in the low 30s.
I don’t see OSU getting much bigger, if at all. There’s only so many huge buildings costing hundreds of millions that can be built, not to mention maintained. Still nice to lay claim to the largest university in the country. Take that, Gainesville!
Actually, there is a huge solar panel manufacturer, perhaps the largest in the country, or even the world, in Northwest Ohio. Check out the link:
http://investor.firstsolar.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=338775
You don’t have to be in a sunny place to manufacture the panels.
Fair point, and it’s good to see a future-oriented manufacturing firm not just operating but expanding in Ohio. That said, I still have to admit I’m nervous for them, because transportation costs are high and not likely to be going anywhere but up (especially from the current levels, which are well off their summer peaks), so shipping large amounts of heavy panels to places where solar is likely to be in more demand does strike me as money left on the table. That said, I have to trust that they know what they’re doing better than me as a casual observer.
One thing Ohio really has working for it is its central location. We’re a day’s drive from 50% of the country’s population. Granted, those baking deserts aren’t nearby, but if solar power is to work cost effectively, it will have to be able to generate power in environments like Ohio’s (and North Carolina’s and Wisconsin’s and Ontario’s.) New developments in tubular rather than flat panels are a source of hope on this front.
I have a science question that someone might be able to answer:
So in the case of having these mega solar farms in places like AZ or windfarms in the Dakotas powering eastern and Great Lakes cities, isn’t there a certain amount of energy lost through transmission along power lines? Longer lines = greater loss through transmission? As opposed to our power currently coming from Ohio river plants 100-150 miles away as opposed to solar/wind farms 1000′s of miles away. Or is the loss pretty insignificant?
I know energy is lost in transmission but if I remember it’s mostly in transformers. Not sure of the specifics.