Transcript US News Rankings Methodology

The US News Rankings:
How We Rate
Jamie Redwine
Office of Institutional Research
July 2005
The Survey
Main Survey – 598 questions
 Financial Aid Survey – 55 questions
 IPEDS Finance Survey – 13 questions

Why US News Ranks Colleges



To provide a source of reliable and consistent data–
information so students can compare one college with
another.
As in the past, U.S. News recommends that its readers
use the rankings as one tool for selecting a college. We
recognize that prospective students must consider their
academic and professional goals, financial resources,
scholastic record, and special needs when choosing a
school. And we recommend that students gather
information on colleges in a number of ways–by talking
to parents, high school guidance counselors, and other
advisers; from college catalogs, viewbooks, and Web
sites; and from campus visits to form first-hand
impressions.
It sells.
The Rankings
National Universities
 Liberal Arts Colleges
 Universities – Master’s by region
 Comprehensive Colleges
 Etc

Hollins’ Carnegie Classification
Hollins falls into the Baccalaureate
Colleges – Liberal Arts category.
 217 institutions (21 public)
 Primary emphasis is on baccalaureate
programs. Award at least half of
baccalaureate degrees in liberal arts
fields.

What They Rank
Peer Assessment (25%)
 Retention (20%)
 Faculty Resources (20%)
 Student Selectivity (15%)
 Financial Resources (10%)
 Graduation Rate (5%)
 Alumni Giving Rate (5%)

How They Rank

Peer Assessment: Opinion of those in a position to
judge a school's academic excellence. The peer
assessment survey allows the top academics contacted-presidents, provosts, and deans of admission--to
account for intangibles such as faculty dedication to
teaching. Each individual is asked to rate peer schools'
academic programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5
(distinguished). Those who don't know enough about a
school to evaluate it fairly are asked to mark "don't
know." Synovate, an opinion-research firm based near
Chicago, collected the data; 60 percent of the 4,095
people who were sent questionnaires responded.
Retention

This measure has two components: six-year
graduation rate (80 percent of the retention
score) and freshman retention rate (20
percent). The graduation rate indicates the
average proportion of a graduating class who
earn a degree in six years or less; included are
freshman classes that started from 1994 through
1997. Freshman retention indicates the average
proportion of freshmen entering from 1999
through 2002 who returned the following fall.
Faculty Resources

Based on six factors from the 2003-04 academic year to
assess a school's commitment to instruction. Class size
has two components: the proportion of classes with
fewer than 20 students (30 percent of the faculty
resources score) and the proportion with 50 or more
students (10 percent of the score). Faculty salary (35
percent) is the average faculty pay, plus benefits, during
the 2002-03 and 2003-04 academic years, adjusted for
regional differences in the cost of living (using indexes
from the consulting firm Runzheimer International). The
proportion of professors with the highest degree in
their fields (15 percent), the student-faculty ratio (5
percent), and the proportion of faculty who are full time
(5 percent) are also weighed.
Student Selectivity

Test scores of enrollees on the sat or act tests
(50 percent of the selectivity score); the
proportion of enrolled freshmen who graduated
in the top 10 percent of their high school classes
for all national universities and liberal arts
colleges, and the top 25 percent for institutions
in the master's and comprehensive colleges
categories (40 percent); the acceptance rate, or
the ratio of students admitted to applicants (10
percent). The data are for the fall 2003 entering
class.
Financial Resources

Measures the average spending per
student on instruction, research, student
services, and related educational
expenditures in the 2002 and 2003 fiscal
years.
Graduation Rate Performance

Measures the difference between a
school's six-year graduation rate for the
class that entered in 1997 and the
predicted rate for the class.

Predicted rate is calculated using a very
complicated formula. I have simply used the
average of the previous 3-yrs.
Alumni Giving Rate

The average percentage of alumni who
gave to their school during 2001-02 and
2002-03.
Where Hollins Ranks
87 (2005), 85 (2004), Tier 2 (2003-).
 Four tiers.
 In 2004 the 1st and 2nd Tiers were merged
into The Top 100.

Women’s Colleges
Institution
Natl Rank
2005
2004
2003
4
4
4
Smith College (MA)
13
15
13
Bryn Mawr College (PA)
21
17
21
Mount Holyoke College (MA)
24
25
23
Scripps College (CA)
26
34
29
Barnard College (NY)
29
38
28
Agnes Scott College (GA)
53
50
II
Spelman College (GA)
66
81
II
Sweet Briar College (VA)
68
63
II
Mills College (CA)
70
66
II
Randolph - Macon Woman's College (VA)
83
81
II
Hollins University (VA)
87
85
II
College of St. Benedict (MN)
101
97
II
Wells College (NY)
105
106
II
Wellesley College (MA)
2003-4 US News Rankings by Peer Assessment Score - Immediate Peers
Natl
Rank Institution
83
Albion College (MI)
89
Augustana College (IL)
96
105
101
87
101
70
105
87
68
83
89
105
Peer
Assess- Grad &
Freshman 2003
2003
Over/
Faculty
%
Overall ment
Retention Retention Predicted Actual
Under Resources Classes
Score Score
Rank
Rate
Grad Rate Grad Rate Perform Rank
<20
54
2.8
88
85%
68%
68%
None
93
61%
52
2.8
63
86%
70%
77%
7
124
56%
Bennington College (VT)
Coe College (IA)
51
2.8
88
80%
73%
67%
-6
104
86%
49
2.8
123
81%
64%
70%
6
79
71%
Hampshire College (MA)
Hollins University (VA)
Luther College (IA)
Muhlenberg College
(PA)
Randolph - Macon
College (VA)
St. Mary's College of
Maryland *
50
2.8
147
79%
74%
60%
-14
61
73%
53
2.8
123
78%
66%
65%
-1
31
83%
50
2.8
58
86%
70%
79%
9
176
44%
57
2.8
30
93%
66%
78%
12
112
63%
49
2.8
116
76%
61%
73%
12
74
70%
53
2.8
63
87%
67%
75%
8
115
58%
Sweet Briar College (VA)
Washington and
Jefferson Col. (PA)
Washington College
(MD)
Wittenberg University
(OH)
58
2.8
104
81%
68%
68%
None
9
90%
54
2.8
73
84%
68%
75%
7
93
68%
52
2.8
102
84%
64%
66%
2
90
69%
49
2.8
104
75%
70%
71%
1
112
58%
What the numbers tell us?
US News Published #s
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
Score
53
54
Reputation
2.8
2.8
2.7
2.7
2.7
Avg Freshman Retention Rate
78.00%
80.00%
80.00%
79.00%
79.00%
Predicted Grad Rate
66.00%
64.00%
67.00%
62.00%
62.00%
Actual Grad Rate
65.00%
68.00%
65.00%
68.00%
66.00%
-1
+4
-2
+6
+4
% Classes < 20
83.00%
79.00%
77.00%
78.00%
79.00%
% Classes > 50
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
1.00%
87.00%
86.00%
90.00%
89.00%
90.00%
SAT 25-75 Percentile
1040-1260
1020-1270
1000-1260
1010-1250
1030-1230
Freshmen in top 10%
25.00%
30.00%
24.00%
25.00%
25.00%
Accept Rate
86.00%
80.00%
81.00%
81.00%
86.00%
Alumni Giving Rate
40.00%
44.00%
45.00%
46.00%
50.00%
Performance
% FT Faculty