With the cost of tuition rising every year, universities are focused on boosting enrollment to maximize revenue. One way some universities attempt to achieve this is by building extension campuses of their institutions in another city, state or country. As private universities expand their reach through these satellite campuses, they lose the true spirit of higher education, prioritizing money and prestige over genuine learning and community. Instead of entering a unique community, students who attend these satellite campuses are left with an imitation of the original university, in which the school’s core values are lost.
Public universities often have their own satellite campus systems that allow in-state students to commute from home and alleviate costs. Private universities also have their own version of satellite campuses, motivated, in part, by a desire to increase the school’s enrollment. Several prestigious universities in the country — including the University of Southern California, New York University and Duke University (N.C.) — all have satellite campuses. While these campuses pad universities’ bottom lines, they deceptively trap students, with the promise of an elite degree overshadowing a subpar student experience.
The rising popularity of satellite campuses misleads students and takes away their chance to enjoy what college has to offer. That is not to say that students cannot enjoy their time at a satellite campus. The problem with this system is not necessarily in the quality of the satellite campus itself, but rather in the expectation students have that the satellite campus imparts the same traditional experience as the university’s main campus, when in reality it is very different. Many students have no idea what they are getting into when they agree to attend a satellite campus based on a university’s name brand recognition.
For example, Vanderbilt University’s (Tenn.) planned New York City satellite campus will rob students of the traditional Vanderbilt experience. Without its Nashville charm or Greek life, the satellite campus will lack the well-known social aspects of Vanderbilt — it will simply not be the same. Instead of getting ready for Nashville game days, these New York Commodores will be far removed from SEC game-day culture. These students will still pay for a prestigious degree from a well-known university, but their experience in Manhattan will not instill the communal and social values Vanderbilt is supposed to.
Northeastern University (Mass.) is another university motivated by the revenue satellite campuses bring in. Since its inception in 1898, Northeastern has acquired a staggering 12 campuses. Most recently, Northeastern expanded this year into New York City, absorbing what was once Marymount Manhattan College. This rapid expansion is not fueled by a good-faith mission to expand education to all. Since Northeastern built its first satellite campus in 2011, its acceptance rate has plummeted, but its total number of students across all campuses has increased. By leveraging the increased capacity satellite campuses offer, Northeastern admits more students and makes more money, boosting the university's prestige. This prestige gives them access to more applicants and possible tuition revenue, but it comes at the expense of giving all Northeastern students the traditional Northeastern experience.
These satellite campuses are also more educationally limiting. Because they tend to be smaller, satellite campuses tend to offer fewer classes to smaller student bodies. With fewer options comes a lack of subject diversity, which takes away opportunities for students who want to take niche classes and explore new interests. By chasing tuition dollars in new cities, universities abandon the core values that make up higher education, like authenticity, attention and purpose, becoming a cash grab at the expense of educational merit.
With the rising cost of attending college, as well as other challenges students face — dealing with student loans, finding post-graduate work and more — universities should not be concerned with opening more campuses. Instead, they should focus on current students at their original campus or on making education more accessible to all. This could look like Emory’s program of expanding financial aid programs to more students or investing in regional program-specific institutions that provide students with resources and support in specific areas of study. If universities really do want to open a satellite campus, they should hone in on the liberal arts or other specialties instead of trying to replicate what they already have at larger campuses.
A satellite campus should also have its own identity while prioritizing the university’s core values. Emory University’s Oxford College is a good example. While Oxford is not part of the Atlanta campus, students still have access to the same resources and educational rigor as their Atlanta peers. Oxford also has its own liberal arts identity, focusing on the smaller class sizes and a tight-knit community. Oxford is not Emory in Oxford, Ga., but rather its own campus with its own identity. While Oxford faces its own set of challenges, it functions as its own institution rather than as a copy of Emory’s Atlanta campus. If other institutions open satellite campuses, they should do so with the mission of creating an environment with purpose and identity, not one that fails to live up to the standards the university’s name promises.
Contact Sabrina Tomei at sabrina.tomei.gonzalez@emory.edu.
