Posted on August 21, 2008 by Ryan Uricks
Loyola College in Maryland announced today that they're changing their name to Loyola University next year to emphasize their breadth of study. Alumni feel this tarnishes the reputation of the school...not to mention the cache of their degrees. However, looking in the past, name changes have done little to impugn a schools reputation. In fact, it may help.
One such instance is The College of New Jersey. Originally 'Trenton State College,' after the name change money seemed to be rolling in, in-state students applied in droves, and now TCNJ is one of the top public liberal arts schools in the region. The name change wasn't without problems: Princeton University sued the school since Princeton was originally named the College of New Jersey until they changed it in 1892.
Arizona State used to be called 'Tempe Normal School' until it was changed in 1958. I don't that 64,000 students would attend or cheer for "T-Norm." So name changes, it appears, do in fact help more than hinder. Unless, you change the name to "All Study and No Fun University."
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