How come there’s such extreme difference in quality between flagship state universities?

Question

You have UC Berkeley, Michigan, Texas, and Virginia, which seem almost—if not actually—like elite schools. All in different regions with different state politics. You can go there and compete against Ivy students for jobs.

And then you have, say, University of Nevada (no offense) or University of Tennessee or something, where you still have highly motivated students, but the institutional reputation seems much lower.

What gives?

In: 0

Answer 1

The reputation isn’t really all that much lower, there are just a handful of public schools that have been around for a long time, are in large and populous states and have developed as general world-renown research institutions that they become a feedback loop of innovation and funding.