The 2021 issue of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” – often viewed as the bible to the college industry – is about to hit the newsstands. New Jersey’s Princeton University is still in first place (for the 10th consecutive year) as the “Best National University.” It’s followed by Harvard in second place, Columbia in third place, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and Yale tied for fourth place. Other universities in the top 10 include Stanford and University of Chicago which tied for 6th place, University of Pennsylvania in 8th place, and a three-way tie for 9th place among California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins and Northwestern.
This issue marks the 36th annual edition of the guidebook which calculates its ranking based on six categories which are each weighed differently: student outcomes (40%), faculty resources (20%), expert opinion (20%), financial resources (10%), student excellence (7%), and alumni giving (3%).
For the first time, U.S. News considered student debt in its rankings, including it in the category of student outcomes. It took into account the percent of undergraduates who took federal loans to subsidize their education, and the average amount of accumulated federal loan debt they had amassed by graduation day.
Best Colleges is extremely helpful to college-bound students as it rates colleges on a wide range of criteria. So students can hone in on those of personal importance. For example, each school is rated on its average freshmen retention rate. This is the percent of freshmen that return for their sophomore year, indicating a level of happiness or satisfaction with their college. The top 25 national universities typically enjoy first-year student retention rates of 97% to 99%.
Another category lists the percent of classes with fewer than 20 students, and another lists the percent of classes with 50 or more students. A popular New Jersey college with small classes is The College of New Jersey where most classes are capped at 25 students and extremely few, if any, exceed 50 students.
A key component in choosing a college should be the availability of a student’s chosen major, or field of study. Here, too, the rankings can provide valuable information. For example, U.S. News not only ranks the best undergraduate engineering programs in general, but also ranks them by their specialties: Aeronautical, Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Industrial, and Mechanical. A similar breakdown is offered for business specialties.
Students in the market for a college education should seek all of the pertinent information available in making what is likely to be a very expensive decision that will profoundly affect the rest of their lives.
Susan Alaimo is the founder of Collegebound Review. For the past 25 years, Collegebound Review's Ivy League educated tutors have prepared students for the PSAT®, SAT®, ACT®, Subject Tests®, AP courses, and all high school subjects. Visit www.CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362
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