Just in time for school, U.S. News and World Report released their 2011 Best Colleges ranking with Harvard University topping the national list and toppling last year’s top-ranked Princeton University.
Some of the Crimson’s Ivy League compatriots, Princeton, Yale, Columbia and Stanford, do not follow far behind in the rank, occupying the remaining spots in the top five.
U.S. News ranked 1,400 schools by region, business programs, engineering programs, affordability, emerging institutions, in-demand academic programs,
historically black colleges and universities and best undergrad teaching.
U.S. News said, this year, they made changes to their ranking methodology, including the names of the categories for a clear distinction between colleges and universities. They also increased the number of institutions included in their rank, from the top 50 percent to the top 75 percent, the graduation rate was more heavily-weighted in the final calculation and the best national universities and national liberal arts colleges were ranked by high school counselors.
To assess an institution’s academic quality, U.S. News uses:”assessment by administrators at peer institutions, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and (for National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges) high school counselor ratings of colleges and ‘graduation rate performance.'” These qualities were valued at different percentages and resulted in the college or university’s final score.
Long Island universities that ranked nationally were Stony Brook University and Hofstra University at 99th and 139th places, respectively.
