Tuesday was when the U.S. News college rankings came out: Harvard is number one … again. Princeton has made it into second again. The Ivy League bias of Yale has made them number three. But those are the national college rankings: Since money is a major part of the list, those in academia tend to criticize it. Some higher education pundits disagree, but the U.S. News Best Colleges 2011 has a matrix many can take a look at when deciding which school will best for them.
Difference between U.S. News and World Report
The U.S. News college rankings sort schools into categories for comparison. Best Colleges 2011 groups American colleges and universities by factors like the highest level of degrees conferred by discipline. The 1,400-plus accredited schools were divided into four main groupings: National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities and Regional Colleges. Regional categories were significant for Regional Universities and Regional colleges using North, West, South and Midwest as the categories. There were those who gathered info on academic quality with 16 indicators from the schools. Colleges are ranked in their categories by their total weighted score.
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The U.S. News and World Report college rankings are just one of numerous such compendiums of higher education. Because of the Princeton top party schools, the Princeton Review is noticed with its comprehensive evaluation of schools. Higher education critics take a list like the U.S. News Best Colleges 2011 more seriously. CNN’s MoneyWatch had Lynn O’Shaughnessy say the whole thing is a joke. The type of learning is not even considered with the U.S. News. The U.S. News and World Report uses just reputation of schools to make up 25 percent of the school’s score.
Value tends to be most significant
U.S. News college rankings have put either Harvard or Princeton within the number 1 spot for 10 years. But for the majority of students, David Gura at NPR writes that topping the national college rankings is irrelevant. Colleges are cutting budgets and capping enrollment. There is a wider range of students applying. College admissions are more competitive than ever. U.S. News college rankings evaluate schools by academic reputation, graduation, freshman retention, faculty resources, alumni giving and financial resources. Still, one of probably the most essential thing considered when choosing an expensive place of higher education is value
U.S. News and World Report
colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges
CBS Money Watch
moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/why-us-news-college-rankings-are-a-joke/703/
NPR
npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/08/17/129248940/what-do-best-college-rankings-tell-us?ft=1 and amp;f=103943429 and amp;sc=tw and amp;utm_source=twitterfeed and amp;utm_medium=twitter
