Peer Institutions

Miscellaneous discussions. Things that don't have anything to do with Western, Leatherneck Athletics, college sports in general, etc.
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leatherface
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ST might be the best to answer this, but, who does the Western Board and Administration consider to be Western's list of Peer Institutions? Most schools have a list they use for a variety of measures. It generally it is a list of schools sharing a similar mission and similar in size and resources. I don't believe SIU-C, Northern, or Uof I in Champaign-Urbana would be realistically on that list. If so, then the list is unrealistic. SIU with law, medical and dental schools. U of I with all they offer, Northern with enrollment size and athletic budget, let alone location to a major metro area.
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ST_Lawson
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That's a fairly easy one to answer, actually: Peer Institutions

None of the ones you mentioned are on the list. SIU-E is, but only for instances where they need to compare to in-state institutions (we're closer to Eastern in terms of town size and school size). SIU-E is a little bigger than us, they have the dental school, and they're close to St. Louis, but if you're trying to figure out schools that are the closest to us of the in-state schools...EIU and SIU-E are probably the ones.

Some are a bit more "aspirational", like James Madison and App State, but most are roughly in line with us, I think (without doing too much digging into them).

Another comparison you can make is to our conference-mates. We're on the low end of enrollment and area population, but aren't a severe outlier. USD is about the same size for both populations, although since they're the flagship of South Dakota, they get a bit more in terms of resources than we do. Indiana State and Northern Iowa aren't too far off on # of students, but have quite a bit larger of a metro area that they're located in. South Dakota State might be the closest...a few more students, town almost exactly the same size as Macomb, although they kinda have the same kinda deal as USD. Brookings has just under 24k people, Macomb has about 18.5k people. However, Brookings is the 4th largest city in South Dakota, whereas Macomb is ~136th in Illinois....so a higher % of state focus is on Brookings than is on Macomb generally.
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leatherface
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Very good work, ST, thanks. I would also put Truman on an aspirational list. Their academic student profile, entrance and graduation requirements are very high, let alone being designated as the official state liberal arts university and the only public university in Missouri designated as highly selective. Size and town population is somewhat similar. However, Kirksville also has a separate Medical School there too.

Looking at our publicly listed peer institutions, one could ask- " why in the world are we trying to be a DI school in athletics with all of that expense"? No, I didn't intend to set this comment "up" by asking for a list of peer schools. It should make a person think somewhat, though.
wiu712
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leatherface wrote: Tue May 30, 2017 3:07 pmLooking at our publicly listed peer institutions, one could ask- " why in the world are we trying to be a DI school in athletics with all of that expense"?
With the closing of St Joseph College (Rensselear, IN), a spot will be open in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).

Universities similar to Western's size in the GLVC include:
Truman State (6,100)
Missouri S & T (7,000)
University of Southern Indiana (10,540)

The largest school in the GLVC is UMSL (15,548).

The smallest school in the GLVC is Quincy University (1,269).
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