Flagship university

Flagship university refers to the leading comprehensive public research university or universities in a given U.S. state. Flagship universities are usually the largest public institutions of higher learning in the state and are generally well-known nationally. They are also typically research intensive, Ph.D. granting institutions and usually compete in NCAA Division I athletics. It is also not uncommon for a flagship university to be the oldest public university in a state university system, with most founded as land-grant universities under the Morrill Act. Some states may have two equally strong public universities in a given system. As such, it is possible for a state to have more than one public university referred to as a "flagship."

The term is usually not applied to a private universities, even when the private school is better known than a peer state-funded university. For example, the flagship university of Massachusetts is University of Massachusetts Amherst, not MIT or Harvard University. More often than not, a flagship will bear the name of the state in which it is located. Lastly, the size of a university is a factor in determining flagship status. For example, student enrollment at The Ohio State University is more than twice that of Ohio University and is thus considered the flagship of Ohio, notwithstanding the fact that both institutions bear the name of that state.

Given the generality with which the term is defined, there is no comprehensive, objective and definitive list of schools constituting "flagship universities".

External links

* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-08-30-tuition-survey_x.htm USA Today Listing of Flagship Universities]

References