West Point At the Top of Forbes College Rankings
Stuart Nachbar
August 10, 2009
Forbes has released their version of a college ranking. Under their methodology, West Point is the cream of the crop.
The magazine's methodology differs from other publications such as U.S. News and World Report by allocating 25% of the rank to student ratings of faculty and 25% to post-employment income.
However, the Web-based resources used to develop these portions of each school's overall rank, RateMyProfessors.com and PayScale.com, can come into question. However, this data is not collected by the colleges, so it might be harder to "game" the Forbes ranking.
The remaining weights in the ranking are for average student debt (20%), four-year graduation rate, gap between the average and predicted graduation rate for the school and the number of students and faculty who have won nationally competitive awards, such as Rhodes Scholarships.
The only component in the Forbes ranking that is also used by U.S. News is the average vs. predicted graduation rate. But kudos to Forbes for sticking to the four-year rate (U.S. News uses a six-year rate). A high four-year graduation rate is a positive reflection upon not only the students, but the admissions office as well. It shows that they have done an excellent job in finding the students who best fit the school's culture and educational offerings.
So, naturally a different methodology will lead to a different ranking, in this case one which has two military services academies among the top 30 schools and three as the top publicly funded institutions.
I can see how the military academies score high in this methodology. They charge no tuition and those who make it through the freshman year generally move on to graduate. Punishment for failure or dishonor is very strict, so there is incentive to avoid. And there is incentive to do well: those who rank highest in their class have the greatest choice of jobs after graduation. And lastly, officers who have served with distinction are highly regarded by private industry. They have an easier time transitioning into the workforce than enlisted personnel or officers who have gone through the ROTC programs. Academy graduates also have a large network, especially West Pointers, since their academy has operated since 1802.
The schools that follow West Point are no surprise; Princeton, Cal Tech, Williams and Harvard round out the top five. These schools have history, distinguished faculty, bright students, and they are among the most generous with financial aid. In addition, Princeton requires a junior and senior thesis (I do not know about the other schools) and practically expects its graduates to finish in four years.
I clicked down the top fifty. No surprises. Practically every school in these rankings is among the top 30 in the U.S. News rankings for national liberal arts colleges or national research universities. Only one school (DePauw in Indiana) admits more than half of its applicants and only one (The College of William and Mary in Virginia) is publicly supported.
What this ranking and others go to show is that some schools are always top schools, regardless of the methodology used. An unknown institution is unlikely to sneak up to the top, unless you segment these rankings by region or type of school. Once you segment these rankings further, they become less meaningful.
Being the best regional liberal arts masters-degree school in the South, for example, is very nice, but there is less competition for that honor and you have to work to explain it. It's like being a division champion in major league baseball. You're happy you beat three to five other rivals for a title, but you still need to win the World Series to be champion.
The magazine's methodology differs from other publications such as U.S. News and World Report by allocating 25% of the rank to student ratings of faculty and 25% to post-employment income.
However, the Web-based resources used to develop these portions of each school's overall rank, RateMyProfessors.com and PayScale.com, can come into question. However, this data is not collected by the colleges, so it might be harder to "game" the Forbes ranking.
The remaining weights in the ranking are for average student debt (20%), four-year graduation rate, gap between the average and predicted graduation rate for the school and the number of students and faculty who have won nationally competitive awards, such as Rhodes Scholarships.
The only component in the Forbes ranking that is also used by U.S. News is the average vs. predicted graduation rate. But kudos to Forbes for sticking to the four-year rate (U.S. News uses a six-year rate). A high four-year graduation rate is a positive reflection upon not only the students, but the admissions office as well. It shows that they have done an excellent job in finding the students who best fit the school's culture and educational offerings.
So, naturally a different methodology will lead to a different ranking, in this case one which has two military services academies among the top 30 schools and three as the top publicly funded institutions.
I can see how the military academies score high in this methodology. They charge no tuition and those who make it through the freshman year generally move on to graduate. Punishment for failure or dishonor is very strict, so there is incentive to avoid. And there is incentive to do well: those who rank highest in their class have the greatest choice of jobs after graduation. And lastly, officers who have served with distinction are highly regarded by private industry. They have an easier time transitioning into the workforce than enlisted personnel or officers who have gone through the ROTC programs. Academy graduates also have a large network, especially West Pointers, since their academy has operated since 1802.
The schools that follow West Point are no surprise; Princeton, Cal Tech, Williams and Harvard round out the top five. These schools have history, distinguished faculty, bright students, and they are among the most generous with financial aid. In addition, Princeton requires a junior and senior thesis (I do not know about the other schools) and practically expects its graduates to finish in four years.
I clicked down the top fifty. No surprises. Practically every school in these rankings is among the top 30 in the U.S. News rankings for national liberal arts colleges or national research universities. Only one school (DePauw in Indiana) admits more than half of its applicants and only one (The College of William and Mary in Virginia) is publicly supported.
What this ranking and others go to show is that some schools are always top schools, regardless of the methodology used. An unknown institution is unlikely to sneak up to the top, unless you segment these rankings by region or type of school. Once you segment these rankings further, they become less meaningful.
Being the best regional liberal arts masters-degree school in the South, for example, is very nice, but there is less competition for that honor and you have to work to explain it. It's like being a division champion in major league baseball. You're happy you beat three to five other rivals for a title, but you still need to win the World Series to be champion.