U.S. News & World Report Releases 2017 Best Colleges Rankings

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report Releases 2017 Best Colleges Rankings

Princeton, Williams, UC—Berkeley and U.S. Naval Academy take No. 1 spots.

Sept. 13, 2016, at 12:01 a.m.

Washington, D.C. – Sept. 13, 2016 – U.S. News & World Report today announced the 2017 Best Colleges rankings to help students worldwide compare the academic quality of more than 1,800 U.S.-based schools. Princeton University remains No. 1 in the Best National Universities category. For the 14th consecutive year, Williams College takes the top spot on the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges list.

California schools and military academies make a strong showing on the Top Public Schools lists. University of California—Berkeley is the No. 1 Top Public School among National Universities for the 19th year; the United States Naval Academy is the No. 1 Top Public School among National Liberal Arts Colleges.

The U.S. News rankings focus on academic excellence, with schools ranked on up to 15 measures of academic quality. Overall, the rankings emphasize student outcomes – including graduation and retention rates – which carry the most weight at 30 percent. The top National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges had significantly higher graduation and freshman retention rates than other schools:

• The average six-year graduation rate is 95 percent for the top 10 National Universities and 93.9 percent for the top 10 National Liberal Arts Colleges.
• The average freshman retention rate is 98.1 percent for the top 10 National Universities and 96.6 percent for the top 10 National Liberal Arts Colleges.
• For comparison, the average six-year graduation rate among all numerically ranked schools on the National Universities list is 71.3 percent, and the average freshman retention rate is 86.9 percent.
• For comparison, the average six-year graduation rate among all numerically ranked schools on the National Liberal Arts Colleges list is 75.2 percent, and the average freshman retention rate is 85.6 percent.
....

For more information, visit Best Colleges and use #BestColleges on Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact: Enxhi Myslymi, [e-mail], [phone].

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2016-09-13/us-news-releases-2017-best-colleges-rankings

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I hadn't thought of the Naval Academy as a liberal arts college, but there you go.

On the other hand, if AI will eliminate six percent of jobs in five years, says report, then a degree from one of those top-rated and four dollars might get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks, unless you chose that degree carefully.

More about that:

Top College Majors for Finding Full-Time Work

Computer science majors are in demand, but students in business and accounting are sought after, too.

By Farran Powell | Reporter July 21, 2016, at 8:30 a.m.

[Brickbat]

1. Colleges self-report stats, USNWR repeats it verbatim and without checking.

Not news.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. How U.S. News Calculated the 2017 Best Colleges Rankings

U.S. News & World Reports discusses its methodology here. I'm not saying that the magazine is right or wrong, but it does have a set of rules that it follows.

How U.S. News Calculated the 2017 Best Colleges Rankings

Here's a breakdown of the key college data that go into the annual rankings.

By Robert Morse, Eric Brooks and Matt Mason Sept. 12, 2016, at 10:00 p.m.

The host of intangibles that makes up the college experience can't be measured by a series of data points. But for families concerned with finding the best academic value for their money, the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings provide an excellent starting point for the search.
....

Data Sources

Most of the data come from the colleges. This year, 93 percent of the 1,374 ranked colleges and universities surveyed returned their statistical information during the spring and summer 2016 data collection window.
....

We obtained missing data from a number of sources, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (graduation rates), the Council for Aid to Education (alumni giving rates) and the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (information on financial resources, faculty, SAT and ACT admissions test scores, acceptance rates and graduation and retention rates).

Estimates, which U.S. News does not display, may be used in the ranking calculation when schools fail to report particular data points that are not available from other sources. Missing data are reported as N/A in the ranking tables on usnews.com. ... For colleges that were eligible to be ranked but refused to fill out the U.S. News statistical survey in spring and summer 2016, we have made extensive use of the statistical data those institutions were required to report to the National Center for Education Statistics, including such factors as SAT and ACT scores, acceptance rates, number of faculty, student-faculty ratios, and graduation and retention rates. These schools are footnoted as nonresponders.

[Brickbat]

3. As I say, self-reported.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Ahem:

We obtained missing data from a number of sources, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (graduation rates), the Council for Aid to Education (alumni giving rates) and the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (information on financial resources, faculty, SAT and ACT admissions test scores, acceptance rates and graduation and retention rates).

[Brickbat]

5. Can I get you a cough drop?

We obtained missing data from a number of sources, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (graduation rates),

Which calculates rates in a different way than the U.S. Dept of Education, and often ends up with a higher rate, especially among athletes, go figure.

the Council for Aid to Education (alumni giving rates)

I'll give you this one.

and the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (information on financial resources, faculty, SAT and ACT admissions test scores, acceptance rates and graduation and retention rates)

Which does not verify the data it receives, except in highly unusual circumstances.