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Updated USN&WR College Rankings - RU at 55

Northwestern 10
UCLA 20
Michigan & USC 25
Wisconsin 38
Illinois 41
tOSU 49
Purdue 51
RU & UMD 55
Minnesota 62
Indiana 72
MSU & Cult 77
Iowa 83
Nebraska 151

This is FANTASTIC result, simply put. RU is tied for the #1 public U in the Northeast (we're also just ahead of UConn and Pitt, the only other contenders in the category).
 
Nice! I see that the Global Rankings still have us lower (than PSU for example)...maybe they just didn't update those yet or there are different parameters.
 
Northwestern 10
UCLA 20
Michigan & USC 25
Wisconsin 38
Illinois 41
tOSU 49
Purdue 51
RU & UMD 55
Minnesota 62
Indiana 72
MSU & Cult 77
Iowa 83
Nebraska 151

This is FANTASTIC result, simply put. RU is tied for the #1 public U in the Northeast (we're also just ahead of UConn and Pitt, the only other contenders in the category).
Where are the SUNY University Centers (Binghamton, Albany, Buffalo and Stony Brook)?
 
Great news. Didn’t we move up a couple years ago and then back down?

columbia at 18 wow.
FSU at 55 give me a break

glad to see PSU at 77
 
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306479001_5744546408890188_1908735576536417201_n.jpg
 
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Great news. Didn’t we move up a couple years ago and then back down?

columbia at 18 wow.
FSU at 55 give me a break

glad to see PSU at 77
There's a lot of random movement in these numbers because the raw scores are so close. BTW, the Florida schools have gotten a lot better due to financial support from the state, including a scholarship program that encourages high school graduates to stay in state. Tuition at the Florida public universities is also pretty low and that also keeps high school grads in state.
 
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That list is only the ranking of the B1G schools (as well as B1G-to-be with the two CA schools).

Stony Brook 77
Binghamton 83
Buffalo 89
Albany 182
Yes, I figured that it was only the Big Ten schools I wasn't trying to imply deliberate omission. The SUNY rankings reflect how unknown the schools are. Stony Brook and Binghamton are very good schools, although the State of New York starves SUNY terribly. Lots of bright New York City area kids go to those schools.
 
Great news. Didn’t we move up a couple years ago and then back down?

columbia at 18 wow.
FSU at 55 give me a break

glad to see PSU at 77

From @Leonard23 last year:


Rutgers US News Rankings 1996-2022

1996 #45, #12 public
1998 #16 public
2000 #22 public
2001 #24 public
2004 #60
2005 #58
2006 #60
2007 #60
2008 #59
2009 #64
2010 #66
2011 #64
2012 #68, #24 public
2013 #68
2014 #69, #25 public
2015 #70
2016 #72
2017 #70
2018 #69, #25 public
2019 #56, #17 public, #5 B1G
2020 #62, #22 public, #8 B1G
2021 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G
2022 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G


Now we add 2023:

2023 #55, #19 public, #8 B1G


We’ve been climbing up from the 2016 low point.
 
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From @Leonard23 last year:


Rutgers US News Rankings 1996-2022

1996 #45, #12 public
1998 #16 public
2000 #22 public
2001 #24 public
2004 #60
2005 #58
2006 #60
2007 #60
2008 #59
2009 #64
2010 #66
2011 #64
2012 #68, #24 public
2013 #68
2014 #69, #25 public
2015 #70
2016 #72
2017 #70
2018 #69, #25 public
2019 #56, #17 public, #5 B1G
2020 #62, #22 public, #8 B1G
2021 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G
2022 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G


Now we add 2023:

2023 #55, #19 public, #8 B1G


We’ve been climbing up from the 2016 low point.
2019 is what I remember. Hope this year sticks.
 
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True. But when the rankings first came in the 80's I believe, we were ranked about 39th. It's nice to be recognized, but as I've said over the last four decades, the methodology used by Robert Morse and his staff is so flawed and so skewed toward private schools over public schools making the whole process laughable and without credibility.

Even so, because parents seems to use the USNR as their bible for rankings, people read this $hit and base their children's futures on the ranking instead of what a school might offer their child. I guess the new flock of juniors and seniors in high school will see Rutgers more as a destination school instead of U. of Delaware, Penn State, and other northeastern schools.
 
Much, much lower. In the 80's and 90's.
The SUNY schools are much better schools than that. It comes from not having sports teams or the like to make them well-known. It also comes from being starved for money due to New York politics. The up-staters won't vote money for them because the up-staters are conservative, and the down-staters want the money instead for the City University system, which used to be superb.
 
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From @Leonard23 last year:


Rutgers US News Rankings 1996-2022

1996 #45, #12 public
1998 #16 public
2000 #22 public
2001 #24 public
2004 #60
2005 #58
2006 #60
2007 #60
2008 #59
2009 #64
2010 #66
2011 #64
2012 #68, #24 public
2013 #68
2014 #69, #25 public
2015 #70
2016 #72
2017 #70
2018 #69, #25 public
2019 #56, #17 public, #5 B1G
2020 #62, #22 public, #8 B1G
2021 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G
2022 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G


Now we add 2023:

2023 #55, #19 public, #8 B1G


We’ve been climbing up from the 2016 low point.
This is great news to see us back in the 50s, and #55 appears to be our 2nd highest ranking ever, unless someone has rankings earlier than 1996. Next stop is to breakthrough to the 40s.

Rutgers US News Rankings 1996-2023

1996 #45, #12 public
1998 #16 public
2000 #22 public
2001 #24 public
2004 #60
2005 #58
2006 #60
2007 #60
2008 #59
2009 #64
2010 #66
2011 #64
2012 #68, #24 public
2013 #68
2014 #69, #25 public
2015 #70
2016 #72
2017 #70
2018 #69, #25 public
2019 #56, #17 public, #5 B1G
2020 #62, #22 public, #8 B1G
2021 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G
2022 #63, #23 public, #8 B1G
2023 #55, #19 public, #7 B1G

As always, if anyone has the data to fill in some of the blanks or earlier data, please feel free to add. These websites don't show anything for us in the 80s or early 90s: https://publicuniversityhonors.com/tag/u-s-news-historical-college-rankings/


Someone may be able to find them on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, if you have time to kill... https://web.archive.org/web/20070201000000*/https://www.usnews.com/
 
There's a lot of random movement in these numbers because the raw scores are so close. BTW, the Florida schools have gotten a lot better due to financial support from the state, including a scholarship program that encourages high school graduates to stay in state. Tuition at the Florida public universities is also pretty low and that also keeps high school grads in state.

I think the lower tuition helps them...and the inclusion of diversity (which definitely helps us too).
 
The SUNY schools are much better schools than that. It comes from not having sports teams or the like to make them well-known. It also comes from being starved for money due to New York politics. The up-staters won't vote money for them because the up-staters are conservative, and the down-staters want the money instead for the City University system, which used to be superb.

I think the problem for them is they're lacking the research and department rankings chops. You pick up the NYT or even the WSJ and they're interviewing someone at RU as an expert way more than a SUNY school. Ross Baker for example, someone in the women's studies department relating to female politicians. RU also developed the rapid COVID test.

A ton of LI and NYC kids go to Binghamton, for example, so I don't think it's really an upstate/downstate issue.
 
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I think the problem for them is they're lacking the research and department rankings chops. You pick up the NYT or even the WSJ and they're interviewing someone at RU as an expert way more than a SUNY school. Ross Baker for example, someone in the women's studies department relating to female politicians. RU also developed the rapid COVID test.

A ton of LI and NYC kids go to Binghamton, for example, so I don't think it's really an upstate/downstate issue.
I didn't say the problem was that downstate kids wouldn't go there. The problem is that legislators from New York City prefer that money go to the City University rather than SUNY.
 
I didn't say the problem was that downstate kids wouldn't go there. The problem is that legislators from New York City prefer that money go to the City University rather than SUNY.

That's more or less though where we are in NJ though it's a more absurd version given the size of our state. It's maybe 2 hours at worst drive from my house in North Jersey, almost NY, to Rowan or Richard Stockton, probably the furthest state colleges from here. But South Jersey pols claim they're deprived and RU-Newark claims they don't have chalk because we have football.

Now I think that dynamic has begun to shift, and other NJ public schools put up some nice numbers too. The South Jersey machine has been pummelled in recent years and I think the state is becoming more cohesive. But I still do read shrieking every so often from Newark or South Jersey outlets that whine about RU.
 
That's more or less though where we are in NJ though it's a more absurd version given the size of our state. It's maybe 2 hours at worst drive from my house in North Jersey, almost NY, to Rowan or Richard Stockton, probably the furthest state colleges from here. But South Jersey pols claim they're deprived and RU-Newark claims they don't have chalk because we have football.

Now I think that dynamic has begun to shift, and other NJ public schools put up some nice numbers too. The South Jersey machine has been pummelled in recent years and I think the state is becoming more cohesive. But I still do read shrieking every so often from Newark or South Jersey outlets that whine about RU.
I don't think there's any room for doubt that the Camden campus is, to use your word, deprived. For instance, the public policy program at Camden has as many students as that in New Brunswick. The latter has the Bloustein building -- Camden doesn't even have a building.
 
One point here, is that 20% of this is entirely based on "expert opinion. So 20% of the score is:
"Each year, top academics – presidents, provosts and deans of admissions – rate the academic quality of peer institutions with which they are familiar on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). We take a two-year weighted average of the ratings. The 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings factor in scores from both 2022 and 2021."

This is where being in the B1G, a conference that prides itself on academics, actually does provide us with a true value regarding these rankings. Many of those "experts" have relatively little interaction with other schools. So we benefit from being spoken of as a peer with Michigan instead of a peer with, say, Louisville.

Not only that, but there are nearly four thousand degree granting post-secondary institutions in the U.S. Even being #100 is still a high tier institution.

The other thing with these rankings, is that it's often a mere percentile point or two between, say, #40 and #60. The result is quite a bit of fluctuation and that if one part of the methodology that doesn't really affect undergraduates at the school is lacking, it can make a big difference in the school's ranking. So if a SUNY school has a below average alumni donations, that can set them back, even if it doesn't matter to their schooling.
 
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One point here, is that 20% of this is entirely based on "expert opinion. So 20% of the score is:
"Each year, top academics – presidents, provosts and deans of admissions – rate the academic quality of peer institutions with which they are familiar on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). We take a two-year weighted average of the ratings. The 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings factor in scores from both 2022 and 2021."

This is where being in the B1G, a conference that prides itself on academics, actually does provide us with a true value regarding these rankings. Many of those "experts" have relatively little interaction with other schools. So we benefit from being spoken of as a peer with Michigan instead of a peer with, say, Louisville.

The other thing with these rankings, is that it's often a mere percentile point or two between, say, #40 and #50. The result is quite a bit of fluctuation and that if one part of the methodology that doesn't really affect undergraduates at the school is lacking, it can make a big difference in the school's ranking. So if a SUNY school has a below average alumni donations, that can set them back, even if it doesn't matter to their schooling.
Your last paragraph is absolutely right. Keep in mind also that the rankings in one year influence "expert opinion" and so being ranked high (or low) one year influences the ranking for the next year.

Does being in the Big Ten help us? It sure doesn't hurt. It's also a help in Rutgers' internal planning, which (at least in the last master plan) compared our programs to other Big Ten schools.
 
I don't think there's any room for doubt that the Camden campus is, to use your word, deprived. For instance, the public policy program at Camden has as many students as that in New Brunswick. The latter has the Bloustein building -- Camden doesn't even have a building.

OK, but does, say, to use a peer school UMD-Eastern Shore have as nice facilities as College Park? The non-main campuses are just that.
 
OK, but does, say, to use a peer school UMD-Eastern Shore have as nice facilities as College Park? The non-main campuses are just that.

If UMD-Eastern Shore has a public policy program with the same amount of students as Rutgers-NB and no building then the problem isn’t Camden matching its peer schools.

The problem is both schools need a building. Of course the money for said building probably doesn’t exist, but it is still a need.
 
Northwestern 10
UCLA 20
Michigan & USC 25
Wisconsin 38
Illinois 41
tOSU 49
Purdue 51
RU & UMD 55
Minnesota 62
Indiana 72
MSU & Cult 77
Iowa 83
Nebraska 151

This is FANTASTIC result, simply put. RU is tied for the #1 public U in the Northeast (we're also just ahead of UConn and Pitt, the only other contenders in the category).

Congrats to Rutgers and the B1G as a whole for the ranking on the US News publication which I think is basically for the Undergraduate Programs.

Pitt came in at a #62 ranking which is not terrible but could be improved.
Still good that we beat Penn State which came in ranked #77.

However, Pitt strengths are in its Graduate Programs and its Research Prowess ($1.105 Billion annual Research/AAU University). Every B1G school with the exception of Nebraska is an AAU Research University and also rank high in US News two other ranking publications (1) Americas Best Graduate Schools (ALL of Pitt's Health Professions are ranked in the Top 20) and (2) Global University Rankings (Pitt is Ranked #42 Global University) which use other measuring criteria/methodology.

Students/Parents use these rankings when deciding on which schools/programs to explore/select so it is imperative to get as high a ranking as possible. I think for the most part these rankings are relatively accurate (although it has been reported some schools in the past have tried to game the system)

HAIL TO PITT!!!!.
 
If UMD-Eastern Shore has a public policy program with the same amount of students as Rutgers-NB and no building then the problem isn’t Camden matching its peer schools.

The problem is both schools need a building. Of course the money for said building probably doesn’t exist, but it is still a need.

Sure but I still wonder why a program so large would be at Newark in the first place. Apparently Newark and Camden have declining enrollments as well, while NB's is rising.
 
For instance, the public policy program at Camden has as many students as that in New Brunswick. The latter has the Bloustein building -- Camden doesn't even have a building.

Wow! That is a really misleading statement. And if you spent the time to research that the public policy program at Camden has as many students as that in New Brunswick, you surely know that it is a misleading statement.

I assume you are referring to the fact the NB has about 97 undergrads majoring in Public Administration and Social Service Professions, while Camden has slightly fewer at 76.

But comparing the Department of Public Policy and Administration in Camden with the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick. The Bloustein School (which doesn't actually have it's own building; it shares a building on Livingstone Ave with the Mason Gross School) is a lot more than just a department of public policy. Counting the other majors within the Bloustein School, NB has about 875 undergrad and 400 grad grad students. That is equivalent to 20% of the entire undergrad+grad enrollment in the entire university at Camden.

And in reality, building space is mostly for offices and research space. The Camden Department has 8 Faculty and Staff members plus another 18 in 2 affiliate research centers housed in separate, near-by buildings. The Bloustein School in New Brunswick has 158 faculty and staff supporting the academic programs plus a dozen research centers.

So yes, the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick has a lot more space than the Department of Public Policy and Administration in Camden, because the New Brunswick school is a whole lot bigger.
 
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