Spring Break
California's growth beckons Drexel University
Ali Qari
Issue date: 8/10/07 Section: News
University Administrators are exploring the possibility of opening a 6,000-student campus in Placer County, Calif., outside Sacramento.
President Constantine Papadakis recently met with Placer County community leaders and toured a 1,100-acre piece of land west of Roseville where a 600-acre university is proposed.
The University would sell 500 acres to private developers to help finance construction of the satellite campus.
Selling 500 of the 1,100 acre donation could generate around $100 million to go toward the school, but building a campus would require much more money. Papadakis did not have a total price tag but told the Associated Press he is confident the school could raise the money.
The land for the university would be donated by the Tsakopoulos family, William and Claudia Cummings, Wayne and Mary Prim and their partners.
Papadakis envisions a campus with a possible emphasis on business administration and nursing.
"We identified that that strongest growth of population in 18-year-olds will be in California, Texas and Florida," Papadakis said. "So we started thinking about how to export our brand to another state."
In California, according to Papadakis, there are more potential students than in the Northeast.
Papadakis also said Sacramento is underserved by private universities.
"I can assure you a lot of students from the Sacramento area want to go to a private university," he said. "Many do leave Sacramento for a private university and they don't return. So you have a brain drain."
"Nowadays, it is very difficult to open a campus of any significant size anywhere because of the cost of infrastructure," Papadakis said. "The donation of that land by the Tsakopoulos family and their partners makes it possible for this to happen."
The proposal has not yet been approved by the Placer County Board of Supervisors and Drexel's Board of Trustees. Papadakis plans to go to the Board in October with a project design.
President Constantine Papadakis recently met with Placer County community leaders and toured a 1,100-acre piece of land west of Roseville where a 600-acre university is proposed.
The University would sell 500 acres to private developers to help finance construction of the satellite campus.
Selling 500 of the 1,100 acre donation could generate around $100 million to go toward the school, but building a campus would require much more money. Papadakis did not have a total price tag but told the Associated Press he is confident the school could raise the money.
The land for the university would be donated by the Tsakopoulos family, William and Claudia Cummings, Wayne and Mary Prim and their partners.
Papadakis envisions a campus with a possible emphasis on business administration and nursing.
"We identified that that strongest growth of population in 18-year-olds will be in California, Texas and Florida," Papadakis said. "So we started thinking about how to export our brand to another state."
In California, according to Papadakis, there are more potential students than in the Northeast.
Papadakis also said Sacramento is underserved by private universities.
"I can assure you a lot of students from the Sacramento area want to go to a private university," he said. "Many do leave Sacramento for a private university and they don't return. So you have a brain drain."
"Nowadays, it is very difficult to open a campus of any significant size anywhere because of the cost of infrastructure," Papadakis said. "The donation of that land by the Tsakopoulos family and their partners makes it possible for this to happen."
The proposal has not yet been approved by the Placer County Board of Supervisors and Drexel's Board of Trustees. Papadakis plans to go to the Board in October with a project design.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 10
Michael Angelone
posted 8/10/07 @ 9:29 AM EST
Why?? If Drexel continues to improve, the students will come to Philadelphia, the University does not
have to go to the students! I say sell ALL the land in Sacremento and put it in the University's
endowment. (Continued…)
portlandme
Michael Angelone
posted 8/10/07 @ 11:00 AM EST
Why? If Drexel keeps improving, the students will come to Philadelphia, the University does not
have to go to the students. I say sell ALL the land in Sacremento, put the money in the University's
endowment and use it to improve Drexel and attract better students. (Continued…)
Antonio Elphoneyo
posted 8/10/07 @ 11:10 AM EST
I don't see the problem with expanding to California. Papadakis claims he will be able to raise the money to get the university started - money that will not come out of the Philadelphia campus. (Continued…)
T. Foxx
posted 8/10/07 @ 1:51 PM EST
As a student, I am highly disappointed in the President's judgement and am not optimistic that he will be able to put his ego aside and back out of this horribly misconcieved plan. (Continued…)
Andrew Shue
posted 8/13/07 @ 4:28 AM EST
A med school, a law school, and now an entirely new campus? Papadakis needs to learn how to improve what's already avaliable before he pours money into new projects. (Continued…)
Josh
posted 8/13/07 @ 10:53 PM EST
Taki needs to concentrate on his own university. Want to hear something interesting? Every year the College of Medicine has what is called the White Coat Ceremony at the beginning of the year for the entering Medical School Class. (Continued…)
Antonio ElPhoneyo
posted 8/15/07 @ 6:35 PM EST
Papadakis couldn't attend the Medical School's white coat ceremony...because he was out trying to better the University. If you'll remember that your Medical School wouldn't even exist right now if it weren't for Papadakis, then perhaps you'll forgive him for missing one of its *important ceremonies* (rolling my eyes as hard as I possibly can). (Continued…)
Sudden Valley University
posted 8/21/07 @ 10:00 AM EST
Isn't Sacramento on or close to a major fault line? This sounds like a really shifty deal. If the land is viable why hasn't it been used? Why is this guy so eager to unload such a valuable plot? Could they not get residential building permits for some reason?
Whine And Complain
posted 8/24/07 @ 12:37 AM EST
Who is smarter when it comes to business decisions? A 21-year-old who doesn't yet have a degree, who knows nothing about the real world and whose biggest responsibility was an assistant night-shift manager for a fast food franchise? What does Taki have under his belt? Turning a bankrupt University into a self-sustaining and now growing institution, bringing back the value of the Drexel degree, having so many students wanting to go here that we have to build a new dorm every year and to top it all off, that was just the first decade. (Continued…)
Sarah
posted 4/27/08 @ 7:34 PM EST
What they really need to do is emphasize nursing and medicine. If Drexel opened up a private med school in sac-town, it would be highly successful, keeping in mind that the entire state of california has only 2 more med schools than Philadelphia. (Continued…)
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