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16:05, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

"Largest" is ambiguous

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Just a quick note that "largest" is ambiguous when it comes to colleges and universities. Does that refer to the total area of the campus? Number of students enrolled in coursework? Number of full-time equivalent students? Or...? I recommend modifying the edits you've made recently to make them clear. Thanks! ElKevbo (talk) 01:04, 10 January 2019 (UTC)Reply

I think it goes without saying. By largest, most people think enrollment. It’s like a city. If I ask you what the largest city in the country is , you will answer New York City , because the largest big city in the country by land is actually Anchorage alaska . No one says Anchorage is the largest city in the country. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Historybuff1111 (talkcontribs) 05:46, January 10, 2019 (UTC)
Thanks for being so collaborative and helpful for our readers.
And please sign your posts on Talk pages. ElKevbo (talk) 12:08, 10 January 2019 (UTC)Reply
Enrollment is compared and defined by both the Kansas Board of Regents and Missouri Department of Higher Education using full-time equivalent. That standardized how school's report to their governing body and allows for fair comparisons. Grey Wanderer (talk) 19:32, 13 January 2019 (UTC)Reply
@Grey Wanderer: This editor has been blocked as a sockpuppet so this conversation is just between us, I suppose.
That the numbers provided are FTE rather than headcount further strengthens my point that we need to be specific as I doubt that most people even know what FTE is much less expect us to be using those numbers. ElKevbo (talk) 19:48, 13 January 2019 (UTC)Reply
Yeah I've been battling him across twenty or so accounts, basically trying to link Johnson County, Kansas anywhere and everywhere regardless of relevance. All enrollment numbers in infoboxes/leads should be sourced ideally with the state governing body for Higher Education (Kansas Board of Regents and Missouri Department of Higher Education). This is a national standard. Institutions report standard FTE numbers to these bodies precisely so that enrollment can be fairly and accurately compared between institutions. I've generally made sure Missouri public institution are up to date this way (as have you I believe). Generally, I don't think we need to specify that FTE is used, too pedantic and detailed for general encyclopedia articles, if someone wants more information about methodology they can follow the reference provided. Grey Wanderer (talk) 19:55, 13 January 2019 (UTC)Reply