Washington State University

The professors are mostly great, the campus is clean and good-​looking, but Zzusis malfunctions practically every other day, and because that is how one adds/​drops classes and files for financial aid, it is VERY frustrating. Even when it is functional, it looks and runs like it was designed by very untalented flock of geese. Also financial aid is almost always distributed late enough during the fall semester that students incur late fees (which seems like an intentional way of weaseling more money out of their broke students). I’ve never had a semester where everything has gone smooth on their end. They’re always misplacing, misreading or misinterpreting things. I have also never had a single semester where their overpriced book store wasn’t horribly understocked. I buy my books online, but during most classes for the first few weeks people are unable to buy the necessary texts from the on campus store. Their book store is run by Barnes and Noble, by the way, which is part of the reason why everything is massively overpriced. Finally, the writing portfolio can be annoying. I thought the whole purpose of English ¹⁰¹⁄₁₀₂ was to teach students to read and write at a college level. It made be feel like WSU has zero faith in their English professors, which made me think maybe I was paying too much to be taught by teachers that the school couldn’t even trust to teach to a high enough level.
But seriously, Zzusis is the bane of my existence.

I will never be sorry that I chose to attend my hometown school. The faculty and staff are superior and truly care about the students success. A beautiful campus, top notch professors and a world class reputation. My question is, why wouldn’t anyone want to enroll? GO COUGS!!!

The campus is beautiful! Views of Mount St Helen’s and Mount Hood.

GO COUGS!

I have found my education while attending WSUV to be quite satisfactory. The majority of the staff, faculty, and administration are truly passionate about what they do, and they want nothing more than to plant the seeds of change in the next generation. I do wish that the campus community was more engaged, and that the prices for classes were not as exorbitant. I recognize, though, that this is nothing more than the reality of higher education as it currently stands, not to mention the nature of a commuter school. With all that being said, GO COUGS! :)

Tuition runs about $ 5700 per semester for full-​time undergrad courses. Not sure how that compares to other schools, but it seems about right for a state university.
Pros: The campus is beautiful! There have been several mornings when I get to campus and I’m happy to be a part of this school (usually the sunny days), simply because of the panoramic views.
The college provides everything you could need to be successful, if you take advantage of it. The instructors are helpful and available, and most of them are interested in teaching (more on this in cons).
The school has plenty of computers scattered around the campus in various computer labs, and all classrooms are very technically capable, even if the instructors don’t know how to utilize the technology.
Administration seems to be interested in instructor performance, as every class, every term, has an instructor evaluation. Not sure anything changes as a result of these evaluations, but it makes me feel as though someone cares.
Cons: The absolute greatest con at this school is in the administration. In the two years I was here, financial aid, student accounts, and registration all screwed up in some fashion. One semester, following a system «upgrade» from a working system to a broken one, the department completely lost all financial aid disbursements for over half the students at the school. This «computer error» of epic proportions resulted in some students being evicted, harassed by bill collectors, dropping out of school, and even depending on a food drive to eat. Unacceptable. Even now, a year later, features of this «better» system have yet to be implemented, and I will likely graduate before I see any benefit. Communication is spotty, at best. Some students receive emails regarding student accounts, advising appointments, campus activities, etc., but my personal experience has been the «less-​is-​more» variety. Over the summer, I was unaware I had an outstanding tuition balance until they were calling me to make payment arrangements for a grossly overdue balance of $ 1500. A simple email would have been sufficient to avoid a lot of hassle.
The lawnmowers are running 5 days a week. The campus is large, and much of it is covered in lush, green grass that unfortunately needs constant care. The lawnmowers create a constant disruption to lectures.
85% of instructors have the best intentions when it comes to educating their students. The last 15% are there because they get paid to be there, or they are trying to get published.
Coming from a community college that had a culinary school on site, the food here is terrible and overpriced. A typical meal runs about $ 7 – 8, and wait time for grill orders is anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.
Campus bookstore is typical, everything is MSRP, nothing ever goes on sale. I usually shop the internet for my books, and save 30−60%.
Class offerings here are slim, compared to larger campuses. For my first year, I ended up taking classes I wasn’t ready for because the ones I needed (and planned on taking) were full before I was allowed to register. On the other hand, those looking for small class sizes will be pleased with this.
More often than not, the technology in the classrooms goes underutilized. S.M.A.R.T. board technology and video teleconferencing are available, but most instructors would have to call IT anytime they tried to use it, so they don’t. Ah well, tuition dollars at work, I suppose.
While the school itself is beautiful, and the teachers are mostly fantastic, I have to take points away for the administration. The mistakes and lack of responsibility create frustration and hardship. My classes are difficult enough without the school working against me. –2 stars for administration.

Yeah school prices are Jacked up but so is everything else. Professors are very personable and people are very friendly. ;-)