Much Criticized U.S. News & World Report College Rankings Are Out - See How RI Schools Scored
GoLocalProv News Team
Much Criticized U.S. News & World Report College Rankings Are Out - See How RI Schools Scored
Most every college president privately complains about the rankings, but few will do anything about it.
SLIDES: See Rhode Island College Rankings BELOW
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThese rankings have been tied to colleges cheating on their numbers to the obsessive competitiveness of parents.
One college that has refused to participate is Reed College in Portland, Oregon — a highly respected and successful liberal arts school.
“A somewhat more important consequence of Reed's rebellious stance is the freedom from temptation to game the ratings formula (or, assuming that we would resist that temptation, from the nagging suspicion that we were competing in a rigged competition). Since the mid-1990s numerous stories in the popular press have documented how various schools distort their standard operating procedures, creatively interpret survey instructions, or boldly misreport information in order to raise their rankings,” wrote then Reed President Colin Diver in a column in the Atlantic in 2005.
More recently, that temptation to “cook the numbers” played out in Rhode Island when Johnson & Wales submitted false numbers.
Johnson & Wales University was“unranked” by U.S. News and World Report -- who notified JWU this year of their decision.
“Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island recently told U.S. News that for many years the school had been over-reporting its financial resource expenditures budget for its Providence campus. The school had been reporting financial expenditures data for all Johnson & Wales campuses to U.S. News instead of just for the Providence campus. The school told U.S. News that for every $100 of financial resources expenditures it had reported, it should have been around $62. Financial resources expenditures per student accounts for 10% of the Best Colleges ranking,” reported U.S. News.
In 2018, when naming Mim L. Runey, Chancellor of Johnson & Wales, the University announced in a press release, “These achievements have contributed to Johnson & Wales' rise in US News & World Report's Regional North rankings from 84 to 64.”
The Rankings
The top five National Universities are:
- 1. Princeton
- 2. Harvard
- 3. Columbia (tie)
- 3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)
- 3. Yale University (tie)
See How RI Schools Rank in Slideshow Below
RI College Rankings - U.S. News & World Report 2020
Rhode Island College
- #116 - Regional Universities North (tie)
- #55 - Top Performers on Social Mobility (tie)
- #39 - Top Public Schools
About RIC, U.S. News writes:
Rhode Island College is a public institution that was founded in 1854. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,688, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 180 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Rhode Island College's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 116. Its in-state tuition and fees are $10,068 (2019-20); out-of-state tuition and fees are $22,831 (2019-20).
Room and board at RIC is $11,829 (2019-20).
Johnson & Wales University
- #80 - Regional Universities North (tie)
- #48 - Best Colleges for Veterans (tie)
- #21 - Best Undergraduate Teaching (tie)
About Johnson & Wales University, U.S. News writes:
Johnson & Wales University is a private institution that was founded in 1914. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,681, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 126 acres. It utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar. Johnson & Wales University's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 80. Its tuition and fees are $33,404 (2019-20).
Room and board at JWU is $12,582 (2019-20).
Roger Williams University
- #28 -Regional Universities North (tie)
- #56 - Best Value Schools
- #21 - Most Innovative Schools (tie)
About RWU, U.S. News writes:
Roger Williams University is a private institution that was founded in 1956. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 4,537, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 140 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Roger Williams University's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 28. Its tuition and fees are $36,978 (2019-20).
Salve Regina University
- #23 - Regional Universities North (tie)
- #11- Best Colleges for Veterans (tie)
- #28 - Best Undergraduate Teaching (tie)
About Salve Regina, U.S. News writes:
Salve Regina University is a private institution that was founded in 1934. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,021, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 78 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Salve Regina University's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 23. Its tuition and fees are $41,450 (2019-20).
Room and board at Salve Regina is $14,960 (2019-20).
PHOTO: Nick Paglia/Flickr Commons
Bryant University
- #7 - Regional Universities North
- #3 - Best Colleges for Veterans
- #17 - Best Undergraduate Teaching (tie)
About Bryant, U.S. News writes:
Bryant University is a private institution that was founded in 1863. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 3,499, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 435 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Bryant University's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 7. Its tuition and fees are $45,395 (2019-20).
Room and board at Bryant is $15,705 (2019-20).
PHOTO: Bryant University
Providence College
- #1 - Regional Universities North
- #4 - Best Undergraduate Teaching
- #10 - Best Value Schools
About PC, U.S. News writes:
Providence College is a private institution that was founded in 1917. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 4,379, its setting is city, and the campus size is 105 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Providence College's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities North, 1. Its tuition and fees are $52,438 (2019-20).
Room and board at PC is $15,140 (2019-20).
University of Rhode Island
#166 - National Universities (tie)
#121 - Best Colleges for Veterans (tie)
#121 - Best Value Schools
About URI, U.S. News writes:
University of Rhode Island is a public institution that was founded in 1892. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 13,865, its setting is rural, and the campus size is 1,245 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of Rhode Island's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 166. Its in-state tuition and fees are $14,566 (2019-20); out-of-state tuition and fees are $31,686 (2019-20).
Room and board at URI is $12,688 (2019-20).
PHOTO: Courthouselover/Flickr Commons
Brown University
- #14 - National Universities
- #3 - in Best Undergraduate Teaching (tie)
- #16 in Best Value Schools
About Brown, U.S. News writes:
Brown University is a private institution that was founded in 1764. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 7,043, its setting is city, and the campus size is 146 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Brown University's ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 14. Its tuition and fees are $58,504 (2019-20).
Room and board at Brown is $15,332 (2019-20).
PHOTO: GoLocal
Rhode Island School of Design
- Unranked in Art Schools
About RISD, U.S. News writes:
Rhode Island School of Design is a private institution that was founded in 1877. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,994, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 23 acres. It utilizes a 4-1-4-based academic calendar. Its tuition and fees are $52,860 (2019-20).
Room and board at RISD is $13,720 (2019-20).
PHOTO: Will Morgan
