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Shop local … learn local at Lock Haven University

RICK LILLA

Lock Haven

There has been an increasing call to shop local these days in the face of such behemoths as Amazon and Walmart. So let’s also think about shopping local when choosing a university for your son or daughter.

Lock Haven University (LHU) is an absolutely wonderful place for a young person to get their college degree. It offers the feel of a small town private college at an affordable public university price. Because of its smallness, students feel noticed and important. Because of its smallness, there is a minimal amount of red tape when you need to enroll in a class, question a charge, or even ask for some flexibility. Because of its smallness, you have immediate and personal access to offices and services. And because of its smallness, your professors get to know you as a person.

I’ve worked here as a librarian at Stevenson Library since 1994 and have been a student advisor for the past 12 years.

When my student advisees come to me to sign their graduation applications, I’ve made it a habit of asking them whether they felt they had made a good decision in coming to LHU. Almost 100% of their replies have been a full-fledged enthusiastic ABSOLUTELY!

Not just “well, yes, it was okay” or “yes, it was fine”, but rather “YES! — These years here have been the best of my life!” or “YES! — My time here has been truly wonderful!”

I should add here that my particular advisees come to me when their first chosen major, for various reasons, has not worked out. So if anyone should have some mixed feelings about their time at LHU, it would be them.

But no.

These students cannot say enough about how happy they are in having made the decision to come here.

I did a quick Google search for the price of tuition to see how LHU compares to other nearby universities.

Try it yourself. Just type the name of the university and then type “tuition.” In doing these Google searches, this is what came up:

Bucknell: $58,196

Lycoming: $41,851

Penn State (in-state): $18,450

Penn College (in-state): $17,160

Bloomsburg (in-state): $10,958

Lock Haven (in-state): $10,878

Now I do understand that there is something very mesmerizing by being accepted at places such as Penn State.

And it is true that for graduate school and for some unique majors, it might be a good choice.

But I believe many of us suffer from a lack of confidence and self-esteem, and so the prospect of seeing oneself as a “Nittany Lion” might provide some temporary relief to fragile egos.

But if someone asked me if I preferred being an anonymous nobody at somewhere like Penn State, with an undergraduate student enrollment at its main campus of 40,639, or to be enrolled at LHU, with its undergraduate student enrollment of 3,060, well, it would be a very easy choice.

Beyond the simple difference in price, it is just a plain fact that public state universities such as LHU will much better be able to foster and enhance the social, academic and relational lives of your sons and daughters, given the relative smallness of our campus and of the number of students in its residence halls.

And unlike places like Penn State, where the focus of faculty is publishing research instead of connecting with students, LHU’s faculty, while still engaging in research, focus the majority of their efforts on educating and mentoring each and every one of our students.

I can say without hesitation that LHU’s faculty have a deep commitment to the teaching and mentoring of these students.

And best of all, choosing LHU as your university of choice keeps it local.

When public state universities were first established throughout our Commonwealth, their chief mission was to meet the educational needs of local communities.

Choosing LHU for your sons and daughters over higher priced or more distant alternatives keeps LHU thriving, while at the same time, giving your children a supremely excellent college experience.

Way back in 1989, I received my Master’s degree in Library Science from Clarion University (CUP).

Then, in 2001, I received another Master’s degree, this time in History, from East Stroudsburg University (ESU).

Both of these degrees opened doors to well-paying jobs and advancement opportunities.

Based on my personal experience as a student at CUP and ESU, and having worked at LHU for the past 26 years, I can attest that local public universities such as LHU are affordable, that they provide the best academic experience possible, and that they open up doors to professional well-paying jobs and satisfying careers.

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