Portland State University
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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
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Institution Type: Public, Non-Sectarian, Research, University
Established: 1946
Campus Enrollment: N/A
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Campus Endowment: N/A
Tuition (Local): N/A
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Mandatory Fees: N/A
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Latitude: 45.51178
Longitude: -122.68353
Tax ID: N/A
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16 Student Reviews of Portland State University
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Portland State University is not the right school for everyone. It’s the kind of place that is bursting with energy, full of a lively hustle. It’s fast moving, not as lazy and laid back as other universities. It’s the place for adventurous spirits, food or coffee lovers, urban dwellers and those who have always dreamt of being urban dwellers. It’s a place for people who want to speak up, who want to challenge what they think they know. It’s a place for people who want to grow. So it’s not the right university for everyone, but for some of us, it’s perfect.
I am currently a freshman attending Portland State University and I can honestly say it’s not what I expected, but not necessarily in a bad way. Being in downtown Portland the campus is much different from the average 4-year universities’ and is always busy. The students are quite diverse and the faculty has been excellent. It is a great place to come learn and start or better your life. Overall I have been enjoying my time at PSU and can only hope for the best in the future!
As an incoming freshman Portland State University has welcomed me with open arms. PSU offers a diverse setting that will help me grow not only academically but also gain self growth. PSU offers a wide range of academic programs such as Graphic Design which was a main point for me when choosing a school. As a freshman I am living on campus which has been great. All of my classes are just a short walk out my door and living in downtown Portland has offered me tons of opportunities. I feel as though I made the right choice in choosing PSU and look forward to what the next four years have to offer.
PSU is a great institution offering quality education in many different fields of study. It’s urban location in the heart of Downtown Portland makes it conveniently located near anything of interest or necessity. Additionally, the wide diversity of the student body allows for anyone of any background to fit right in.
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.
This coming fall I will be heading into my senior year at PSU, having transferred from a community college. Overall, I would have to say that PSU has been a positive experience for me, granted some areas were better than others. As a female physics student, I was surprised at how welcomed I felt in my department – something echoed by my female classmates, yet not the experience of some of my female physics friends in other states. Within my department, it seems that there is no shortage of people who push me to do more and to do better and to get involved in things or who are willing to help me with their time and sometimes materials. I cannot speak for other departments as a whole but my interactions with many of the other instructors in other departments have been highly positive as well (though I found the math department to be less helpful, but the instructors really did know their stuff and for the classes I had the particular instructor taught subjects which were in their academic focus). I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every class that I have had here so far, and the instructors practically beg you to come to their office hours and talk with them.
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.
(If you want to hear the perspective of a Sophomore living on campus here at PSU, please continue reading.)
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.
This is easily one of the most underrated schools in the country. It has engaging and innovative programs that go beyond anything that any other university does. This is the kind of school that will teach you how to live life and be a well adjusted adult.
Also, the female population isn’t too bad looking either and are also a good enough reason for allying.
My experience at Portland State so far has been nothing but positive. Well, everything besides Victor’s There are so many nice people, extremely good teachers, it’s a beautiful campus and the streetcar is free so I cant travel to almost every area of Portland with just a little bit of walking involved. I’m really glad with my decision to come here, the only things I’d have to complain about is all the rain (not really fixable), Victor’s food and the drunk people at The Cheerful Tortoise across from Ondine. Other than those minor things I don’t really have any issues with PSU. I love that it’s an urban campus and I’m inner mixed in the city.
Portland State is a vary diversity school located in downtown Portland. As I’m a current international student, I feel convenient and safety in PSU. I also work on campus, which is really great job that help me to enhance my leadership ability and build personal community. PSU gives me such a wonderful chance and opportunity to both study and work!
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.
The best part about PSU is how easy it is to get involved. I moved here knowing no one but myself and quickly made connections and became active on campus. The volunteer opportunities here are great; I spent last spring break building a house with Habitat for Humanity. There are many jobs on campus, and although many require work study there are always regular wage positions out there too. A downtown campus really fosters community involvement. Internships are plentiful and your professors are nearly always involved with the city of Portland and are an excellent resource to find out more about their subjects. The University Studies program is well rounded with a Senior Capstone for the finale. I have yet to hear about a better Capstone program than the one here at PSU. There are tons of choices and each one has students working directly with the city or state of Oregon. PSU is one of the few Universities that will provide students with experience in their field before graduation.
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.
Because Portland State is such a big university, it can be easy to loose yourself in the large (about 30,000) student population. If you are interested in being more involved in the community, rather than being a student that comes to campus just for classes, it can be easy to get involved. There are many options for students to get involved in clubs, programs and attend events.
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 am a current student at PSU and have loved the past three years that
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.
Portland State University, is a school filled with diversity. It’s a great school for it’s location and it’s programs it provides. You get to live in downtown Portland but still be able have the nature feel with the surrounding trees. It’s a beautiful campus filled with modern and old buildings, with the park blocks being absolutely a wonderful place to study or be inspired. The professors are also great, they really do want to see you succeed in life, they give you options to succeed, it’s up to you to take the challenge of succeeding though. If your a nature lover and believe in sustainabilty this is the right school for you, PSU focuses hard to be sustainable in everything they do. If you love being loud at athletic events, you’ll be amazed by the student body’s spirit.
PSU is an all around great school. It has a little bit of everything both on and off-campus. Which is really nice considering that off-campus is literally only a couple of steps away. It’s energy efficient, artistic, athletic, and has great science and math research. You’ll be hard pressed to find a school that isn’t this much inclusive on such a large scale.
Portland State University is a great school. Do not expect to be supported and pushed along as you were in high school. After all it is college. I feel like most bad reviews are based highly on the university not teaching you or not informing you… listen, if you really want to learn, Portland State university does exactly what secondary education should do… IT PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY! it is up to the student to do the learning. you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. The only downfall really is cost. Not so fun for out of state students.
PSU is great. It’s involved with the surrounding area a lot and really has to be since it’s in the middle of the city. I’m glad I came here.