College and University Blog

StateUniversity.com is pleased to announce their launch of a college ranking system which offers a comprehensive statistical evaluation of colleges and universities across the nation.

Purpose of a Ranking System

Out of thousands of schools in America today, finding the very school that would fit your needs and desires without any kind of qualitative jump start is like finding a needle in a haystack. College ranking systems were devised over two decades ago to be a useful tool in this process.

How is StateUniversity.com Different?

When the popularity of these systems increased, their credibility and accuracy came under scrutiny. U.S. News and World Report were the first and many organizations followed suit in creating a formula for the best possible results.

However, some of the data sources were criticized for being bias or inconclusive, too subjective and opinion based to consider the rankings worthy, dependable information. This questionable action is called peer review, a process in which the performance of a school is based on the evaluators’ perception of the school’s quality, and the questions or concepts are subject to the scrutiny of one’s own opinion.

How can results reach the highest level of accuracy when the data used to calculate these listings are based on the “perception” of an elect few?

Pure Statistics

StateUniversity.com’s ranking system is based purely on statistical data from a third party source, namely, government agencies that maintain the responsibility to carefully collect data from colleges and universities through regular, comprehensive surveying. These institutions must comply with utmost accuracy and objectivity.

Unlike peer review, statistical data leads to factually based conclusions.

Important Factors Affecting Rank and Easy to Understand Listings

StateUniversity.com uses several qualifiers in deciding the rank position of an institution. Factors such as ACT/SAT scores, the school’s student retention, the salary of faculty and student /faculty ratio play a very significant role in determining the outcome. Each factor is given a percentage weight and is calculated.

For more information on how these calculations work, visit our blog: US College Rankings: How US News Report and Other College Rankings Work

Making sure the rankings are readable and easy for the reader to understand is another reason why this system is beneficial. A school’s score can be between 0 and 100, with the best possible score being 100.

Check it out for yourself!
Top-Ranked Schools Overall
Top 500 Schools for Highest ACT 75th Percentile Scores
Top 500 Schools for Highest SAT 75th Percentile Scores
Top 500 Schools for Highest FT Faculty Salaries
Top 500 Schools for Highest Average Student Loan
Top 500 Schools for Highest Total Cost of Attendance
Top 500 Schools for Highest Total Enrollment

Posted on 5 Dec