(01-23-2019 08:13 AM)cr11owl Wrote: (01-23-2019 07:50 AM)owlsfan Wrote: This is a stupid metric, really. It incents schools to boost their applicants, if they want to climb the rankings (and who doesn't want to climb rankings?). Since the size of the school student body cannot increase, it just means that when you are pumping up kids to apply, you are driving your rejection numbers. If tomorrow, Harvard said they were going to draw 5 applications randomly to admit those kids they draw, they would increase their applications by 20%. Nothing about that makes the school better or more desirable.
US news doesn’t use acceptance rate anymore, but I still think we’ll edge out Vandy next year because of this (as we should every year).
Correct.
Here' a link to USNews' latest methodology, with some excerpts that might be of interest:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-co...e-rankings
Quote:New for 2019, acceptance rate (1.25 percent in last year's ranking) has been completely removed from the ranking calculations to make room for the new social mobility indicators.
Quote:New this year, we factored a school's success at promoting social mobility by graduating students who received federal Pell Grants ...
Pell Grant graduation rates are weighted at 2.5 percent. ... we use a school's six-year graduation rate among new fall 2011 entrants receiving Pell Grants. This assesses each school’s performance graduating students from low-income backgrounds. A higher Pell Grant graduation rate scores better than a lower one.
Pell Grant graduation rates compared with all other students are weighted at 2.5 percent. This additional new ranking factor compares each school's six-year graduation rate among Pell recipients who were new fall 2011 entrants graduating in 2017 with the six-year graduation rate among non-Pell recipients at the same school by dividing the former into the latter. The minority of schools whose Pell graduation rates are equal to or greater than non-Pell graduation rates score the highest. Altogether, this metric assesses each school’s performance at supporting students from underserved backgrounds relative to all of its other students. The lower a school's Pell graduation rate relative to its non-Pell graduation rate, the lower it scores on this indicator.
Scores for the new social mobility indicators were then adjusted by the proportion of the entering class that was awarded Pell Grants because achieving a higher low-income student graduation rate is more challenging with a larger proportion of low-income students.
As a result of adding indicators for social mobility into the 2019 Best Colleges rankings, when combined with the graduation rate performance, U.S. News takes economic diversity into account in indicators that comprise 13 percent of the rankings.
Quote:Alumni Giving (5 percent) -- This is the average percentage of living alumni with bachelor's degrees who gave to their school during 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Giving measures student satisfaction and post-graduate engagement.
All in all, here are their rating categories and weights:
Outcomes (35 percent, up from 30 percent in 2018).
> Social mobility (5 percent),
- Pell Grant graduation rates (2.5 percent)
- Pell Grant graduation rates compared with all other students (2.5 percent)
> Graduation and retention (22 percent)
- Average six-year graduation rate (17.6 percent) down from 18 percent in 2018
- Average first-year retention rate (4.4 percent) down from 4.5 percent in 2018
> Graduation rate performance (8 percent) up from 7.5 percent in 2018. Compared each college's actual six-year graduation rate to what we predicted for its fall 2011 entering class.)
Faculty Resources (20 percent).
> Class size (8 percent).
> Faculty salary (7 percent) Average faculty pay, plus benefits, during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years, adjusted for regional differences in the cost of living using indexes from the consulting firm Runzheimer International.
> Proportion of full-time faculty with the highest degree in their fields (3 percent),
> Student-faculty ratio (1 percent)
> Proportion of faculty who are full time (1 percent).
Expert Opinion (20 percent, down from 22.5 percent in 2018)
> Peer assessment survey averages results from spring 2017 and 2018. It is weighted at 15 percent for National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges; 20 percent for Regional Universities and Colleges (down from 22.5 percent in 2018)
> High school counselor assessment survey averages results from spring 2016, 2017 and 2018. It is weighted at 5 percent (down from 7.5 percent in 2018) and only applies toward National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges.
Financial Resources (10 percent). Average spending per student on instruction, research, student services and related educational expenditures in the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years. Spending on sports, dorms and hospitals does not count.
Student Excellence (10 percent, down from 12.5 percent in 2018).
> Acceptance rate (1.25 percent in last year's ranking) has been completely removed.
> Standardized tests (7.75 percent, down from 8.125 percent in 2018).
> High school class standing (2.25 percent, down from 3.125 percent in 2018).
Alumni Giving (5 percent).
/
Niche ranking: Hardest schools to get into ... Rice is #20
