Valpo's 2016 US News Ranking

[VULB#62]

Didn't see this posted elsewhere so I started this string.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-midwest

Some observations:

Top Regional Universities (Midwest)
1 - Creighton (NE)
2 - Butler (IN)
3 - Drake (IA)
4 - Bradley (IL)
5 - VALPO (IN)
6 - Xavier (OH)
7 - John Carroll (OH)
8T - Truman State (MO)
8T - Evansville (IN)
10 - Elmhurst College (IL)

Other Midwest Regional Universities of note:
Northern Iowa #18
UDM #23
UWGB #75
Chicago State (Rank not published - i.e., below #112)
YSU (RNP)

South Regional Universities of note
#5T - Belmont
#5T - Stetson
#24 - Campbell
#28 - Murray State
#61 - Morehead State
#65 - Jacksonville
#76 - EKU
#80 - NKU

National Universities of note:
Dayton #108
DePaul #123
UIC #129
Ball State #168
IUPUI ##199
Cleveland State (Rank not published - i.e., below #199)
Indiana State (RNP)
Oakland (RNP)
UWM (RNP)
Wright State (RNP)

Within the HL (Blue) at least, once again it confirms from an overall ranking perspective that we and UDM are the exception rather than the rule in the league's composition.  We've hacked this to death in the past, but, nevertheless, it underscores how different we are.

[VULB#62]

The USNWR Conference:   
Creighton (NE)
Butler (IN)
Drake (IA)
Bradley (IL)
VALPO (IN)
Xavier (OH)
Evansville (IN)
UDM (MI)
Belmont (TN)
Dayton (OH)

[vu72]

Didn't see this posted elsewhere so I started this string.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-midwest

Some observations:

Top Regional Universities (Midwest)
1 - Creighton (NE)
2 - Butler (IN)
3 - Drake (IA)
4 - Bradley (IL)
5 - VALPO (IN)
6 - Xavier (OH)
7 - John Carroll (OH)
8T - Truman State (MO)
8T - Evansville (IN)
10 - Elmhurst College (IL)

Other Midwest Regional Universities of note:
Northern Iowa #18
UDM #23
UWGB #75
Chicago State (Rank not published - i.e., below #112)
YSU (RNP)

South Regional Universities of note
#5T - Belmont
#5T - Stetson
#24 - Campbell
#28 - Murray State
#61 - Morehead State
#65 - Jacksonville
#76 - EKU
#80 - NKU

National Universities of note:
Dayton #108
DePaul #123
UIC #129
Ball State #168
IUPUI ##199
Cleveland State (Rank not published - i.e., below #199)
Indiana State (RNP)
Oakland (RNP)
UWM (RNP)
Wright State (RNP)

Within the HL (Blue) at least, once again it confirms from an overall ranking perspective that we and UDM are the exception rather than the rule in the league's composition.  We've hacked this to death in the past, but, nevertheless, it underscores how different we are.

Didn't see this posted elsewhere so I started this string.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-midwest

Some observations:

Top Regional Universities (Midwest)
1 - Creighton (NE)
2 - Butler (IN)
3 - Drake (IA)
4 - Bradley (IL)
5 - VALPO (IN)
6 - Xavier (OH)
7 - John Carroll (OH)
8T - Truman State (MO)
8T - Evansville (IN)
10 - Elmhurst College (IL)

Other Midwest Regional Universities of note:
Northern Iowa #18
UDM #23
UWGB #75
Chicago State (Rank not published - i.e., below #112)
YSU (RNP)

South Regional Universities of note
#5T - Belmont
#5T - Stetson
#24 - Campbell
#28 - Murray State
#61 - Morehead State
#65 - Jacksonville
#76 - EKU
#80 - NKU

National Universities of note:
Dayton #108
DePaul #123
UIC #129
Ball State #168
IUPUI ##199
Cleveland State (Rank not published - i.e., below #199)
Indiana State (RNP)
Oakland (RNP)
UWM (RNP)
Wright State (RNP)

Within the HL (Blue) at least, once again it confirms from an overall ranking perspective that we and UDM are the exception rather than the rule in the league's composition.  We've hacked this to death in the past, but, nevertheless, it underscores how different we are.

Totally agree.  It is why we are a much better fit in the A-10 where many schools are about the same size and all are ranked, some of them very highly ranked.

[VULB#62]

I was mildly surprised by Murray State's strong rating.  Much better as a regional than any public U in the HL.

[a3uge]

I was mildly surprised by Murray State's strong rating.  Much better as a regional than any public U in the HL.

Why stop there? Stetson to the Horizon!

[agibson]

Didn't see this posted elsewhere so I started this string.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-midwest

Did these come out recently?  I might have thought September or so. But, I did also see some icons splashed around a VU page today (I would have said the front page at valpo.edu, but I don't see them currently).

Seems like Xavier's slipped a bit in the Midwest...

[Kyle321n]

The USNWR Conference:   
Creighton (NE)
Butler (IN)
Drake (IA)
Bradley (IL)
VALPO (IN)
Xavier (OH)
Evansville (IN)
UDM (MI)
Belmont (TN)
Dayton (OH)

With good OOC scheduling, similar to what the Pac 12 did this season, this could regularly be a 3 or 4 tourney team conference.

[a3uge]

The USNWR Conference:   
Creighton (NE)
Butler (IN)
Drake (IA)
Bradley (IL)
VALPO (IN)
Xavier (OH)
Evansville (IN)
UDM (MI)
Belmont (TN)
Dayton (OH)

With good OOC scheduling, similar to what the Pac 12 did this season, this could regularly be a 3 or 4 tourney team conference.

Let's throw the University of Iowa and Duke in there as well.

[VULB#62]

The USNWR Conference:   
Creighton (NE)
Butler (IN)
Drake (IA)
Bradley (IL)
VALPO (IN)
Xavier (OH)
Evansville (IN)
UDM (MI)
Belmont (TN)
Dayton (OH)

With good OOC scheduling, similar to what the Pac 12 did this season, this could regularly be a 3 or 4 tourney team conference.

Let's throw the University of Iowa (too B1G)  and Duke (too far away) in there as well.

Nah.   

[a3uge]

The USNWR Conference:   
Creighton (NE)
Butler (IN)
Drake (IA)
Bradley (IL)
VALPO (IN)
Xavier (OH)
Evansville (IN)
UDM (MI)
Belmont (TN)
Dayton (OH)

With good OOC scheduling, similar to what the Pac 12 did this season, this could regularly be a 3 or 4 tourney team conference.

Let's throw the University of Iowa (too B1G)  and Duke (too far away) in there as well.

Nah.   

Duke would bring academic prestige and we'd be able to more easily form a rivalry with them.

[oklahomamick]

I recall on one of the horizon podcast, jimmy taking a jab at UWGB academics not being closs to UWM. 

[a3uge]

I recall on one of the horizon podcast, jimmy taking a jab at UWGB academics not being closs to UWM.

I was thinking the same thing. Growing up in Wisconsin, both schools had similar commuter-school reputations. Not that there's anything wrong with either school... I use to interview kids from Marquette, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and UWM and couldn't really tell the difference.

[VULB#62]

I recall on one of the horizon podcast, jimmy taking a jab at UWGB academics not being closs to UWM.

I was thinking the same thing. Growing up in Wisconsin, both schools had similar commuter-school reputations. Not that there's anything wrong with either school... I use to interview kids from Marquette, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and UWM and couldn't really tell the difference.

I, also, was intrigued by the fact that UWGB was lumped in with the Stevens Points and Stout States while UWM was considered a "national" university along with Marquette and UW-Madison which were correctly categorized as national. It's hard to equate a 75 rating for a regional to an RNP national rating. The RNPs are listed alphabetically so UWM could theoretically could have been #201 (doubtful), but you have no way of confirming that

[valpotx]

I hire people in our Farmington Hills, MI office on occasion, and have found Oakland Engineering graduates to be pretty solid.  Admittedly, it is very hard for me to not inform them that Petros, does in fact, suck

[bbtds]

I hire people in our Farmington Hills, MI office on occasion, and have found Oakland Engineering graduates to be pretty solid.  Admittedly, it is very hard for me to not inform them that Petros, does in fact, suck

"You're hired! And by the way Corey Petros, who played for Coach Kampe from 2011 to 2015, does indeed....................."

"I heard Petros signed a pro contract with Rilski of Bulgaria. Corey starts and Rilski is in third place."

"Well, Petros sucks and so does Rilski!"

[agibson]

I, also, was intrigued by the fact that UWGB was lumped in with the Stevens Points and Sout States while UWM was considered a "national" university along with Marquette and UW-Madison which were correctly categorized as national. It's hard to equate a 75 rating for a regional to an RNP national rating. The RNPs are listed alphabetically so UWM could theoretically could have been #201 (doubtful), but you have no way of confirming that

Their methodology is a little unusual, and does make it difficult to compare schools across categories. The regional division, in particular is a bit fuzzy. Maybe it's a certain kind of reasonable, with Belmont and Valpo maybe having similar educational offerings, but with Valpo and Butler more likely to compete for students.

And, the divisions between "masters level" and "liberal arts college" are more-or-less arbitrary lines in the sand.

Their basic division is by types of degrees awarded
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/09/05/methodology-best-colleges-ranking-category-definitions

Their definition of "national university" is actually "graduates at least 20 PhD's a year" (OK - not _just_ PhD's, but "research doctorates"). Their definition of "regional university" is actually "graduates at least 50 masters a year, but fewer than 20 PhD's". Nothing to do with geography, where their students come from, etc.

I have maybe the least intuition for their "regional college" category, which seems to be "graduates fewer than 50 masters a year, at least 10% of their undergrad degrees are bachelors, and fewer than 50% of their undergrad degrees are in liberal arts".  ("national liberal arts colleges" have more than 50% of their undergrad degrees in the liberal arts)

These are mostly the same as the "Basic Classification" of the Carnegie Classification System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Classification_of_Institutions_of_Higher_Education#Basic_classification
but US News' wrinkle is to attach the "regional" label to the masters-level schools and the non-liberal arts schools, and divide them into regional groups.

Probably some of the doctoral-institutions (Milwaukee, maybe?) aren't particularly national, but US News lumps them into that category because of the degrees they grant.

These days the full Carnegie classification is quite detailed; you can see Valpo's full breakdown at
http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup_listings/view_institution.php?unit_id=152600&start_page=institution.php&clq=%7B%22first_letter%22%3A%22V%22%7D

I've always wondered how we would compare on the national liberal arts colleges ranking, since in some ways we compete with those schools (e.g. St. Olaf, Carleton, etc.), but US News doesn't make the comparison easy.

[VULB#62]

Seems like the Law School (and its JD) doesn't get much play.

[agibson]

Seems like the Law School (and its JD) doesn't get much play.

A JD's always seemed more like a masters to me anyway... But, anyway, yeah, it doesn't qualify as a "research doctorate".

http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/methodology/basic.php

JD, MD, and DNP (the nursing doctorate that VU awards) are all out.

[VULB#62]

Heres my reaction.

[agibson]

Ha! Nothing against a JD. I've got one in the family. In terms of preparation required, it just seems on the low end of the "doctoral" degrees, more in line with other professional degrees, some of which get called a masters (e.g. an MDiv).

[atkins]

A three-year law degree is known as one of the more-difficult professional degree programs...Probably comparable to a Pharm.D, but not nearly as basic as the typical master's degree. 

Divinity degree programs are difficult to compare to any other program because they are so narrowly focused and are not part of the standard higher education academic curriculum at the vast majority of universities.  I suspect that divinity programs have some commonality with law programs, especially because both require intensive analysis and extensive reading of difficult passages in small print (!).