From today's Daily Pennsylvanian:
Contemplating the upcoming transition, Undergraduate Political Science Chairman Henry Teune noted the unique challenges facing Penn. He described Penn as a "three-ring circus," with three major problems requiring the constant attention of administrators: Penn's low endowment to student ratio, its large Health System and its urban setting.
Maybe the "problem" Penn faces as a result of "its urban setting" is thinking that its urban setting is a problem. Many of us think that the urban area in which Penn is a net asset and not a net liability.
It will be interesting to see how Gutmann adapts to Penn... it's VERY different from Princeton.
Princeton's annual budget is less than 25% of Penn's. (Penn's is currently a $3.5 billion dollar a year budget, Princeton is roughly $800 million.) They may have a larger endowment, but their overall operating budget is much lower. Penn is a major Research Institution, Princeton is an Academic one - that's a big philosophical difference.
According to NACUBO, in 2003, Princeton's endowment was $8.7 billion, Penn's $3.5 billion. Princeton is ranked #3, Penn #11. Harvard is #1 with $18.8 billion.
Penn's biggest problem for its administrators is, as a previous Provost characterized it -- "Penn is like medieval England, with the Barons making deals with each other and only paying attention to the King when it is to their advantage."
The other interesting thing is that Princeton has traditionally had a worse "Town and Gown problem" than Penn.
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