Link to a generalization of the methodology used.

Article from late 2022 announcing the beginning of the study in January 2023: https://www.dowjones.com/press-room/the-wall-street-journal-to-work-with-college-pulse-and-statista-on-new-annual-college-ranking/?mod=healthforum

Refresh my memory...

We like lists that rate us highly, but list that don't are BS, right?

One spot behind University of Chicago and one spot ahead of Georgia Tech???
I love my alma mater, but, uhm, no.

paywall.

Can you archive the link and repost it, please?

Agree.

But A&M is in the 90th percentile. We are woke but nearly as woke as the Ivy schools.

Baylol

Kool said:

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One spot behind University of Chicago and one spot ahead of Georgia Tech???
I love my alma mater, but, uhm, no.

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STEM at TAMU is first rate. I know we have anthropology and other crap majors but we are a pretty big deal.

Logos Stick said:

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Agree.

But A&M is in the 90th percentile. We are woke but nearly as woke as the Ivy schools.

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I play by the one drop rule for wokeness.

cecil77 said:

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Refresh my memory...

We like lists that rate us highly, but list that don't are BS, right?

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No. We like lists that are not based on perceived reputation.

Check the methodology. This is a better, more useful list.

Cow College is Best College

the good thing about the WSJ rankings is they, unlike some others, place a greater emphasis on how likely a student is to graduate, as well as the return on investment of a degree (how much more you can make by getting a degree from there vs. how much it costs to attend).

the latter especially should be a much more decisive factor for parents and prospective students picking a school. gone are the days of boomer parents telling their kids to just get any old degree and fall into a middle management job that can support a family.

I hope this puts to rest all the talk of becoming a diploma mill with our increased enrollment. I know it won't but one can hope.

Surprised Rice is so low. I thought they were the Harvard of the South (according to them anyway).

SMM48 said:

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Baylol

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Diversity score sank them… yet no one can explain why (without using their feelings) that actually makes a college education any better.

Quote:

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have become a diploma mill

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Like clockwork.

Urban Ag said:

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As much as it pains me to say it, I have really tried to get my boys to look hard at other schools than A&M. But both are hell bent on being Aggies. So be it.

In particular, Florida. Have also come to really like Arkansas.

But I tell you what and I never thought I'd say this. I would be perfectly happy for either of them to attend Texas Tech. As long as they wrap it up

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What major?

While i realize A&M is nowhere as conservative as it used to be, it's not some woke hell hole.
The student body is still overwhelmingly conservative, and it pains me to see folks choose a different school.

The answer isn't encouraging conservative students to attend elsewhere.
The answer is to get more conservative students to attend A&M

I'm sure there are other reasons to look at Arkansas, Florida, and even Tech. (I have one kid who considered tu, and then attended a school in Florida), but i have 2 others who attend A&M and are thrilled by their choice.

that's a very expensive private school ranked 247

Here is some info on how WSJ ranked them.

"The WSJ/College Pulse College Rankings: Measuring Outcomes, Not Inputs

We no longer reward colleges' wealth or reputation in and of themselves. Gone is the survey of academics on schools' reputations. Gone are the rewards for instructional spending and the assumption that the quality of education is largely dictated by how expensive it is to produce.

In their place we've expanded the importance of student outcomes: graduation rates and graduate salaries. Critically, we now put greater emphasis on measuring the value added by collegesnot simply measuring their students' success, but focusing on the contribution the college makes to that success.

...

Three components
College scores in our ranking are based on three factors: student outcomes, accounting for 70% of the rankings; the learning environment at 20%; and diversity, at 10%."


https://wsj-article-webview-generator-prod.sc.onservo.com/webview/WP-WSJ-0001156475?adobe_mc=TS%3D1694011754%7CMCMID%3D13117799474064425434933645003074028917%7CMCORGID%3DCB68E4BA55144CAA0A4C98A5%40AdobeOrg&wsj_native_webview=android&ace_environment=androidphone%2Cwebview&ace_config=%7B%22wsj%22%3A%7B%22djcmp%22%3A%7B%22propertyHref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwsj.android.app%22%7D%7D%7D

Gigem_94 said:

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Surprised Rice is so low. I thought they were the Harvard of the South (according to them anyway).

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It's a woke magnet, just like Yale - and certainly of all the schools we visited was the least impressive.
Left Rice disappointed.

Imo, Princeton is the least woke of the ivy leagues ...still overwhelmingly liberal.

Surprised MIT wasn't higher than Princeton.

IIT better than Northwestern???

BWAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAA



What is the criteria? Wokeness?

****ty pay after graduation sank them.

Mostly student outcome.

cecil77 said:

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Refresh my memory...

We like lists that rate us highly, but list that don't are BS, right?

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This is a radically different measure of how colleges are graded.

Imagine if colleges were restaurants and rankers food critics.

The USNWR method would give more than half of their points to things like how pretty is the presentation, what is the restaurants reputation, how expensive is the silverware, how well dressed is the staff. While less than half of their points go to "is the food actually good or not?"

WSJ takes the (sadly) novel approach of simply: all your points go to "is your food actually good or not"

Ranking you based on how well you do is great because the other method is simply "Harvard is the best because we say it is so the ranking is: how close are you as a school to a tiny, extremely wealthy research oriented private school founded over 300 years ago. The less like that your school is, the less deserving of a ranking we give it and we game the metrics so those most like Harvard stay highly ranked even if the real metrics say they're not doing a great job of ROI for their students or society

Gigem_94 said:

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Surprised Rice is so low. I thought they were the Harvard of the South (according to them anyway).

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The institutional attitude of Rice University is not of merely being the Harvard of the South, but that MIT and CalTech should be the safety schools you applied to in case you didn't get in to Rice.

Logos Stick said:

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Here is some info on how WSJ ranked them.

"The WSJ/College Pulse College Rankings: Measuring Outcomes, Not Inputs

We no longer reward colleges' wealth or reputation in and of themselves. Gone is the survey of academics on schools' reputations. Gone are the rewards for instructional spending and the assumption that the quality of education is largely dictated by how expensive it is to produce.

In their place we've expanded the importance of student outcomes: graduation rates and graduate salaries. Critically, we now put greater emphasis on measuring the value added by collegesnot simply measuring their students' success, but focusing on the contribution the college makes to that success.

...

Three components
College scores in our ranking are based on three factors: student outcomes, accounting for 70% of the rankings; the learning environment at 20%; and diversity, at 10%."


https://wsj-article-webview-generator-prod.sc.onservo.com/webview/WP-WSJ-0001156475?adobe_mc=TS%3D1694011754%7CMCMID%3D13117799474064425434933645003074028917%7CMCORGID%3DCB68E4BA55144CAA0A4C98A5%40AdobeOrg&wsj_native_webview=android&ace_environment=androidphone%2Cwebview&ace_config=%7B%22wsj%22%3A%7B%22djcmp%22%3A%7B%22propertyHref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwsj.android.app%22%7D%7D%7D

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Does that factor in a students socioeconomic status upon entry and some time, say five years, after graduation?

To me that is the ultimate test of college success. If you enter affluent and leave affluent, has college been any benefit to you? Likewise, if you enter poor and are still poor five years after graduating, why good has college done you?

The biggest reason is not the "woke" at A&M nor the student body. Frankly, after spending some time on campus recently I am quite impressed with the students in general. Especially the cadets we had the pleasure of spending time with.

Texas A&M has some very good young people on that campus. They make me proud to be an Aggie.

I just have never wanted my kids to feel like they had to be Aggies because mom and dad are. And Papa, and two uncles, and a dozen second cousins, etc. Or because we were taking them to Kyle since they were toddlers. Or even because one of my son's initials is TAMU (I am dead serious about that).

I want them to chart their own path in life and be there own men. I support. I guide. I don't project my wants on them. They have to make their own decisions on certain aspects of their future.

My older son is a senior. He is not top 10%. He is right at 12% in a pretty large and highly competitive high school. To me, it's too much stress on him at that age. His application is in but we don't have guaranteed enrollment. I just want him to have other options he can be happy with. My other son is a freshman and he's literally off the charts. He can go wherever he wants. And who knows, maybe he will change his mind and look elsewhere.

NM.

I had a Rice grad that worked for me for years at two different companies. Great guy. Funny, smart, witty, good at his job (analytics type guy). His only downside was he was just so wonky he just couldn't make the case for leadership positions and struggled to climb the ladder.

We called him Waldo because he literally looked like the Where's Waldo character. He would laugh and just say that all the guys at Rice looked like Waldo. I don't think he was joking.

Several comments:

The top 10 is about the same as the USNWR top 10 - so in addition to nice silverware and linen tablecloths, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst, etc must serve some pretty good food.

I personally don't find the student outcome metric as compelling as most, but it's because I've got a really old fashioned idea of the purpose of a university education. I think it's sad that they've become "vocational" schools that everyone should go to. In my fantasy world about 60% of HS graduates would attend a vocational school (or receive vocational training in HS) and at most 40% would attend university for a classic university education. That university educations forms much of society and is about who students become rather than what career they pursue.