2016 Forbes America's Top Colleges

[oklahomamick]

Valpo came in at #260.

HL Foes
UIC 240
UWM 609
UWGB N/A
Oakland 520
Detroit N/A
CSU 649
Wright St. 660
NKU 641
YSU 656

Those are the schools we compete against athletically.  Below are schools that similar to us in size, degrees offered, regional, private, etc.  In other words, I would assume these are schools in which we compete with not athletically but rather with students.  It's odd because a good percentage of our students are athletes.

Similar Schools I wish we were in a league with
Drake 136
Butler 226
Evansville 306
Belmont 427
Dayton 203

[a3uge]

Valpo came in at #260.

HL Foes
UIC 240
UWM 609
UWGB N/A
Oakland 520
Detroit N/A
CSU 649
Wright St. 660
NKU 641
YSU 656

Those are the schools we compete against athletically.  Below are schools that similar to us in size, degrees offered, regional, private, etc.  In other words, I would assume these are schools in which we compete with not athletically but rather with students.  It's odd because a good percentage of our students are athletes.

Similar Schools I wish we were in a league with
Drake 136
Butler 226
Evansville 306
Belmont 427
Dayton 203

What about Northwestern? That'd be cool.

[oklahomamick]

Valpo came in at #260. HL Foes UIC 240 UWM 609 UWGB N/A Oakland 520 Detroit N/A CSU 649 Wright St. 660 NKU 641 YSU 656 Those are the schools we compete against athletically.  Below are schools that similar to us in size, degrees offered, regional, private, etc.  In other words, I would assume these are schools in which we compete with not athletically but rather with students.  It's odd because a good percentage of our students are athletes. Similar Schools I wish we were in a league with Drake 136 Butler 226 Evansville 306 Belmont 427 Dayton 203

What about Northwestern? That'd be cool.

I made a mistake....UIC is not 240 but rather 340.  We have a lot of catching up to #15 Northwestern....But at least we were #1 in the HL

[atkins]

Ratings are generally laughable, but many prospective students value them highly.  I expected a much higher rating.  260 is mediocre and suggests we have much reputation-building work to do.  I hope the administration is listening. 

[agibson]

Below are schools that similar to us in size, degrees offered, regional, private, etc.  In other words, I would assume these are schools in which we compete with not athletically but rather with students.

Similar Schools I wish we were in a league with
Drake 136
Butler 226
Evansville 306
Belmont 427
Dayton 203

That's a pretty good list. And, indeed, from one set of common metrics, the HL schools don't look much like us. Detroit might be the exception.

On your list of comparable schools, Dayton is fairly different - a research university. In a sense more like Indiana or Purdue than like Valpo. Three of the others are actually used by the Board and others as comparison schools, and maybe Belmont could be.

Other comparisons that come to mind, and are used by the Board and others, include Bradley (259), Creighton (214), Xavier (341).

Sometimes, if you talk to admissions, they might say that these are _not_ the type of schools we're competing with directly for students. That our students are more likely to have IU, Purdue, etc. on their list.

But, surely some of our prospective students must have a few "Valpo-like" schools in mind.

Fascinating that Forbes tries to rank more or less everybody head-to-head (US News, maybe the most well known ranking, doesn't even try). So, we get oddities like:

Michigan State 149
Purdue 127
Indiana 119
Depauw 91
Depaul 280

I'd have to take a look at their criteria to get any kind of an idea what to think about all of this...

[Vale O. Paradise]

Here are 2015 rankings (along with this year's ranking in parentheses for comparison). Generally, the worst got better, the best got worse.

YSU 649 (656)
WSU 634 (660)
CSU 641 (649)
NKU 626 (641)
Milwaukee 606 (609)
Oakland 529 (520)
UIC 355 (340)
Valpo 234 (260)

Detroit and Green Bay did not make the rankings.

[oklahomamick]

Here are 2015 rankings (along with this year's ranking in parentheses for comparison). Generally, the worst got better, the best got worse. YSU 649 (656) WSU 634 (660) CSU 641 (649) NKU 626 (641) Milwaukee 606 (609) Oakland 529 (520) UIC 355 (340) Valpo 234 (260) Detroit and Green Bay did not make the rankings.

It appears that News Week Rankings is not the only ranking that Valpo is sliding in. 

[FWalum]

What is the reason for this slide since the early 90's???  In almost all the areas that I thought these rankings looked at it appears to me that we have improved... where am I going wrong?

[vu72]

What is the reason for this slide since the early 90's???  In almost all the areas that I thought these rankings looked at it appears to me that we have improved... where am I going wrong?

There are now so many of these rankings that you can pick several that make you look great and avoid those who make you look less attractive.

As an example, Collegechoice.net ranks Valpo No. 1 Christian College in the nation, ahead of schools like Baylor, Wheaton and Pepperdine. There criteria covers more than just a perception as too who is "more Christian" but includes the following:

Our 2015 Rankings of the Best Christian Colleges and Universities are based exclusively on factors actual college freshmen said were most important to their college decision. According to the most recent nationwide survey published by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, these factors include academic reputation, financial aid offerings, overall cost, and success of graduates in the post-college job market. Each of these factors were weighted equally in our ranking and data was derived from a variety of publicly available sources, including U.S. News & World Report, the National Center for Education Statistics, and PayScale .

[78crusader]

I think Collegechoice.net is a pay-to-play site and therefore not worth much.  No offense intended, but no one in the real world would rank VU ahead of Baylor.

The gold standard remains US News & World Report. And the simple fact is that for the first 14 years of US News rankings, we did very, very well.  The last 14 years have seen a gradual slide.  Drake and Butler have surpassed us every year for at least 6-7 years in a row.  Bradley has overtaken us now a couple times.  We will never again beat Creighton, which has been #1 for at least the last 10 years.  Xavier is nipping at our heels and Evansville is not far behind. 

Like FWalum, I'm perplexed by this.  Our freshman retention rate has not been good (compared to these other schools) and that might hurt us some.  If I had to guess, I'd say our academic reputation has taken a hit over the years and, if true, that is one of the main culprits behind this slide.  For instance, a few years ago our Education Department was, to put it kindly, not well thought of at all.  Not sure if that ship has been righted or not. 

Perhaps some of the faculty on this board can chime in with their thoughts.  I'd be interested in what they have to say.

For me the other troubling thing about these rankings is how low many of the HL schools are ranked.  In the Forbes study, for example, no fewer than half of our league schools was ranked in the bottom 20 -- out of over 600 schools listed.  Needless to say, not very impressive.  Academic prestige alone should be a reason we should depart this league and move to the Mo Valley, if they will take us in.  Losing Butler and Loyola were huge academic hits from which the HL will never recover.  Bradley, Drake, and Evansville are way better academic partners than our fellow HL members.

Paul

[vu72]

Not sure what you meant by a pay-to-plat site.  Do you think Valpo paid them to get high in their rankings?  If so, we must have missed their 2016 payment.  We were number 1 in 2015 and not in the top 100 in 2016!

Their 2016 Midwest regional ranking do have Valpo at number 2 behind Creighton.  Bradly is No.4, Drake is No. 6, Butler No.7, Xavier No. 8 and Evansville is No. 9.  This is very similar to US News which also has Creighton No.1.  It has us at No.5 with Butler, Drake and Bradley ahead of us. Similarly, it has Evansville at No. 8.

I think the numbers are probably very close and we end up slitting hairs over who is better.  Nationally Yale was ranked No. 3 and MIT was ranked 7th. Do you really think Yale thinks they are inferior to Princeton to MIT to the University of Chicago?

[valpo64]

Since when does our athletic conference affiliation have anything to do with our academic ranking?

[vu72]

Since when does our athletic conference affiliation have anything to do with our academic ranking?

Not sure as to when, but academic image has much to do with who you associate with.  Think Ivy, Big East or A-10.  Big powerful athletic state schools hang with similar schools.  In that regard when you look at the Horizon, after Loyola and Butler left, its us and Detroit. So we went from having about half the league with solid academic stature to twenty percent.

We would fit in great in the A-10 and even in the Valley,where we would join Evansville, Loyola, Bradley and Drake. So if we replaced Wichita State, for example, we would be one of five private schools or 50%.

[oklahomamick]

Since when does our athletic conference affiliation have anything to do with our academic ranking?

It's good to compete athletically with schools that have similar missions and service similar students.  I think a lot of the of the other schools in the HL are commuter schools, large amount of on-line courses and serve more adult students. 

When watching the espn ticker at the bottom of the screen I would rather see Valpo next to Bradley than CSU or WSU. 

I hate to say it about my OU Sooners but the Big 10 and Pac 12 would rather not have OU even though they are a storied program (that's right Tex).  Why?  because of the academics. 

[BigDFromUIC]

...its us and Detroit. So we went from having about half the league with solid academic stature to twenty percent.

I find this comment interesting.  What do you base it on?  Other than your obvious bias towards private schools?

[vu72]

...its us and Detroit. So we went from having about half the league with solid academic stature to twenty percent.

I find this comment interesting.  What do you base it on?  Other than your obvious bias towards private schools?

I would have to add UIC but I was focused on the private schools who generally compete for the same type of student--full time, many of whom are from out of state.

If you look at the US News rankings you'll find the following:

Valpo      #5     Midwest Regional University
Detroit    #23        "            "            "
Wisc GB  #75        "            "            "
UIC        #129  National Universities
N. Kentucky  #80 Southern Regional University
WSU
CSU
YSU                       All too low to be ranked
Oakland
Milwaukee