Portland State University
Portland State University is a Public, Non-Sectarian, Research, University established in 1946. The campus is located in Portland, Oregon, USA and hosts students with an endowment of .
Website: www.pdx.edu
Address:
Phone: (no local phone number)
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Institution Type: Public, Non-Sectarian, Research, University
Established: 1946
Campus Enrollment: N/A
Acceptance Rate: N/A
Graduation Rate (6Y): N/A
Campus Endowment: N/A
Tuition (Local): N/A
Tuition (Non-Local): N/A
Tuition (Foreign): N/A
Mandatory Fees: N/A
Housing (Room): N/A
Latitude: 45.51178
Longitude: -122.68353
Tax ID: N/A
Portland State University (PSU) is an urban research university located in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1946, it has the largest undergraduate and graduate enrollment in the state, and is the only Oregon university located in a major metropolitan city. PSU is part of the Oregon University System (OUS). Athletic teams are the Portland State Vikings, school colors are green and white. PSU includes the School of Business Administration, Graduate School of Education, College of the Arts, School of Social Work, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. – Tracy Weber, Marketing Assistant, Communications
I transferred to PSU from Portland Community College after receiving an Associate of Arts – Oregon Transfer Degree. This allowed me to enroll as a junior, and all of my credits were accepted. For someone like me, who only had experience through community college at PCC as well as Clackamas Community College, the transition to PSU was a fairly smooth one. Many of the classes have a similar structure to PCC and CCC, and most of my classes have had similar class sizes too (about 15-30 students). I definitely recommend PSU to anyone who wants a quality education, in an urban environment, within a vibrant and progressive city.
In terms of things to do on campus – there is no shortage of student groups (something like 260 groups) or organizations to join and plenty of places to volunteer. PSU is also located in the middle of Portland – You can walk to just about anywhere you might want to go. There are a multitude of museums, parks, and other cultural centers in the area and endless quantities/varieties of restaurants. PSU, and Portland as a whole, does a lot to promote inclusivity and a green way of life. That is not to say that everyone is perfect or that Portland doesn’t have its problems (it does), but compared to many other places I have been, you can really see the effort put into this area.
On campus housing can be spendy (I think this is the case at every university) but I found that it is hard to beat the price if you want to live downtown. If you’re okay living a little further away, you can save a deal of money. That said, PSU has two categories of buildings for student living – the historical buildings and the modern buildings, both of which have traditional dorms/studios/1-br/2-br options (with the 2 bedroom units reserved for students with children). I have lived in both. I was not impressed with the historical buildings. They are old buildings and have not been well maintained. I think the one I lived in had some severe mold problems (I was super sick the whole time I lived there and have not been sick once since I left). The modern buildings are great though.
I don’t know if this is all schools or just PSU but I was also not all that impressed with many aspects of the administration. Such as if they mess up your account, it may take two months to get things in order. Petitions can take a long time to go through. Some rules are strictly enforced while others are thrown out the window. When everything is working as it should then things go very nicely and very quickly, but it feels like whenever there is a problem it takes way too long to fix it. But, I cannot say if that is just PSU, it seems like many schools have issues like that. A small kink seems to break the machine.
After two years of PSU, I can honestly say I am pretty content. The largest reasons for me attending were:
1) PSU being the most affordable public Oregon university.
2) The study abroad program.
3) Having the opportunity to live on campus in the middle of a city.
4) The job/internship opportunities within and surrounding the city.
Even as a sophomore, PSU has given me many opportunities for on-campus jobs to help provide for my
education. It was easy for me to build my resume with all the opportunities for getting involved in
student groups and activities.
The beauty of PSU is it can literally become anything you want it to. If you want the crazy party experience,
sure, you can have that. (Though you have to work a bit harder than you would have to at say… U of O or OSU.)
If you want a plethora of artist friends, you can have that.
If you want an internship (if you work hard enough), you can have that.
If you want a rigorous and intellectually stimulating academic experience, you can have that.
If you want the typical dorm experience, you can have that.
PSU is literally a mold that you can shape into whatever experience you like.
You may have to work a bit harder here to achieve this, but from my time at PSU, I believe it’s worth it.
Also, the female population isn’t too bad looking either and are also a good enough reason for allying.
To the new student, PSU has many programs and activities that help students not only study toward your degree but also meet lots of friends from everywhere.
I love living on campus and being in downtown Portland. The campus itself is beautiful, but it’s easy to escape if you start feeling a little confined. There are great malls and retail in close proximity. For such a big school it is surprisingly easy to make yourself stand out.
As a student who is involved, I often feel like there are way too few students actually involved with the campus, as there are times when the attendance to an event is extrememly low compared to the number of students PSU has. Otherwise, the location of the school is great, and the people in Portland are awesome. Many students at PSU are from the local area, but for those who come from different areas find it easy to become acquainted with the beautiful city.
I’ve spent at the university. PSU has an awesome general education
program called University Studies that has really rounded out my
education. As an Electrical Engineering student, my opportunities to
take classes other than math, science or engineering are slim. Through
the University Studies program I took a class called Cyborg
Millennium, which concerned the future of technology and its ethical
implications. I also took a Women’s Studies course which completely
opened my eyes to the impact of gender on all areas of social life.
The point is, you get to choose classes that totally interest you and
that fulfill general education writing requirements. My
extracurricular experience has been equally great. It was tough when I
first started taking classes because I was commuting from SE Portland,
but I eventually found a lot of opportunities. I started hanging out
in a cool vegan cafe on campus, began working in a Physics lab on a
nanotechnology project, attended events put on by the Women’s Resource
Center, and now I’m one of the Student Ambassadors at the university.
The addition of the new rec center has also been fantastic. They offer
tons of classes, from yoga to cycling to zumba. I can’t get enough of
them. I absolutely recommend PSU to anyone looking for a
non-traditional college experience on an urban campus with a wonderful
group of peers! If you love Portland, you’ll love going to PSU.