A Note on Methodology: Best Colleges for Adult Learners
We began with the 7,647 postsecondary institutions listed in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) as being active in the 2015–16 academic year.
A Note on Methodology: 4-year Colleges and Universities
We considered no single category to be more important than any other, and the final rankings needed to reflect excellence across the full breadth of our measures.
Introduction: A Different Kind of College Ranking
To see our full list of rankings, click here. Two years ago this month, President Barack Obama made a bold promise: Starting with the 2015-16 academic year, his administration would rate every college and university in America. Instead of comparing colleges with the wealth and prestige measures used by the likes of U.S. News &… Read more »
A Note on Methodology: Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Rankings
The 2015 Best Bang for the Buck list comes from the new book The Other College Guide: A Roadmap to the Right School for You (The New Press), by Jane Sweetland and Paul Glastris. It is a different list than we have presented in past years, with the biggest difference being that we included all… Read more »
A Note on Methodology: 4-Year Colleges and Universities
There are two primary goals to our methodology. First, we considered no single category to be more important than any other. Second, the final rankings needed to reflect excellence across the full breadth of our measures, rather than reward an exceptionally high focus on, say, research. Thus, all three main categories were weighted equally when… Read more »
