Forbes 2018 College Rankings

[VULB#62]

Just saw the Forbes 2018 college rankings:  Here are the MVC national rankings and respective cost to attend:

191 - Drake $54,020
277 - Loyola $59,958
302 - Bradley $46,680
343 - ISUr $40,036
346 - Evansville $50,868
384 - Valpo $52,980
385 - UNI $31,872
521 - MO State $28,502
620 - SIU $42,770
646 - ISUb $32,938

Here's the link: https://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/#tab:rank

I didn't do any analysis of the criteria - just listed the rankings.

[crusader05]

Forbes is an interesting list but once you get outside of the top 100 or so I feel like it's just too wide of a net. US news seems to do a better job in regards to assessing where Valpo is with it's competitors. I feel like we've been dropping in forbes even as we have remained steady in other reports.

[VULB#62]

I was also surprised at our relatively low ranking.  When you filter by state (Indiana) it turns out Valpo is rated #14 out of 19 colleges rated.  UND, DePauw, Rose-Hulman, Purdue, IU are the top 5 in the state. Butler comes in at #8.  A number of IN colleges were not even addressed like Bethel, St. Francis, Purdue-Ft. Wayne, to name a few.

[crusadermoe]

Yes, US News is the one that packs the punch.   

Creighton always dominates our USN category and then a pack of us fight for #2-6.   Butler, Bradley, Drake, Valpo...etc.etc.

In reality Valpo ranked #1 a few times in the 80s and 90s.  Many on the board always assume we have been rising in recent decades.


Waiting for the US News release!

[usc4valpo]

My duaghter wants to major in education and  looking into Iowa State, Iowa, and UNI. She does not want heavy debt after graduation.

[usc4valpo]

384 to 30 to 4...
I think Valpo is better than its rating IMHO.

[covufan]

384 to 30 to 4...
I think Valpo is better than its rating IMHO.

25 or 6 to 4

Yes, Valpo is better than its rating, also IMHO.

[vu84v2]

Forbes' methodology is based on quantitative data and surveys. I certainly would have liked to see the numbers for all of the factors. This type of ranking can ultimately 'split hairs' between the school that is #200 and the school that is #400. Still, this ranking may point to an area or two that Valpo needs to improve upon (debt, student satisfaction, graduation rates?).

I agree that US News is a more effective ranking since it divides schools into 'like' groups. Comparing Valpo to schools in which the faculty are expected to do much more research and raise far greater research grants is like comparing apples to cumquats.

[valpotx]

Yes, US News is the one that packs the punch.   

Creighton always dominates our USN category and then a pack of us fight for #2-6.   Butler, Bradley, Drake, Valpo...etc.etc.

In reality Valpo ranked #1 a few times in the 80s and 90s.  Many on the board always assume we have been rising in recent decades.


Waiting for the US News release!

We were #1 every year that I was in school from 1999 to 2004.

[usc4valpo]

What specifically is the USN category and what schools consist of that grouping?

[vu84v2]

Without digging into the gritty detail, USN breaks schools out as National Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities and Regional Colleges. In the last two groups (Valparaiso University is a regional university), they divide it into regions. A Regional University has a broad range of undergraduate and some Master's programs. The big difference between National and Regional universities, in my opinion, are the research requirements of the faculty (and related factors like grants, existence of a broad range of PhD programs, etc.). Thus, Valparaiso is compared to universities like Butler, Creighton, Drake, Xavier and Bradley. These divisions are effective since the school in each classification generally have similar missions (saying that Valparaiso is weaker in some areas is meaningless, since they emphasize other areas - such as excellent teaching). Classifying schools in this manner, however, can be like splitting hairs - how different is Creighton than Marquette, yet Marquette is a national university.

Link to last USN rankings for Valparaiso's classification:

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-midwest

[vu72]

Without digging into the gritty detail, USN breaks schools out as National Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities and Regional Colleges. In the last two groups (Valparaiso University is a regional university), they divide it into regions. A Regional University has a broad range of undergraduate and some Master's programs. The big difference between National and Regional universities, in my opinion, are the research requirements of the faculty (and related factors like grants, existence of a broad range of PhD programs, etc.). Thus, Valparaiso is compared to universities like Butler, Creighton, Drake, Xavier and Bradley. These divisions are effective since the school in each classification generally have similar missions (saying that Valparaiso is weaker in some areas is meaningless, since they emphasize other areas - such as excellent teaching). Classifying schools in this manner, however, can be like splitting hairs - how different is Creighton than Marquette, yet Marquette is a national university.

Link to last USN rankings for Valparaiso's classification:

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-midwest

This why a Valpo education makes so much sense.  You aren't going to college--during your undergrad years, to be drawn to a place with great research, a medical school, wonderful Phd programs and many classes taught by graduate assistants.

[78crusader]

The 2018 US News rankings are out:

1. Creighton
2. Drake
3. Butler
4. Valparaiso
5. Xavier
6. John Carroll
7. Bradley
8. Truman State
9. Evansville
10. North Central

Paul

[vu84v2]

USN also had Valpo as #1 for Best Undergraduate Teaching in the Midwestern Regional Universities category.

[FieldGoodie05]

The 2018 US News rankings are out:

1. Creighton
2. Drake
3. Butler
4. Valparaiso
5. Xavier
6. John Carroll
7. Bradley
8. Truman State
9. Evansville
10. North Central

Paul

What category because there are a ____ ton.

[FieldGoodie05]

The 2018 US News rankings are out:

1. Creighton
2. Drake
3. Butler
4. Valparaiso
5. Xavier
6. John Carroll
7. Bradley
8. Truman State
9. Evansville
10. North Central

Paul

What category because there are a ____ ton.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/valparaiso-university-1842/overall-rankings

[vu72]

The 2018 US News rankings are out:

1. Creighton
2. Drake
3. Butler
4. Valparaiso
5. Xavier
6. John Carroll
7. Bradley
8. Truman State
9. Evansville
10. North Central

Paul

What category because there are a ____ ton.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/valparaiso-university-1842/overall-rankings
[/quote

Regional Universities are more than liberal arts and less than Universities granting dozens of Phds.  Valpo offers over 25 graduate degrees but only 2 Phds.  There's more to it but this is the basics of the classification.

[talksalot]

Be careful with these stats...

they are almost one year old !!! 

the 2019 USN data is due out about September 10th.

https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/articles/2018-08-20/2019-best-colleges-rankings-coming-sept-10?int=undefined-rec

[crusadermoe]

Yes, Butler beat out Creighton for #1 in this new ranking.   That was a shock to me.    We were #5.

[94Alum]

That Forbes ranking is insulting.  There is no way dozens of schools on there I can think of should be ahead of us in ranking.  #384?  Really?

[crusader05]

I think that Forbes places a really high amount of ranking on alumni donations and  salaries. things that tend to favor larger schools or really focused stem schools but I could be misremembering from a past discussion.

[crusadermoe]

On a side note, those MVC tuition levels at the beginning of this thread sound really high for the public ones.   

Are those out-of-state tuitions in every case?    I always figured the total cost at state ones would be $22,000 or lower.  Such as $12k tuition, $10k expenses.

[wh]

Money Magazine released its 2018 "727 Best Colleges in America" Ranking on August 13th. Valpo is 501.

http://time.com/money/best-colleges/#

Valpo compared to others in the Top 10 "Midwest Universities" ranking from the US News:

197 John Carroll
233 Evansville
288 Drake
296 Bradley
353 Truman State
477 Xavier
499 Butler
501 Valpo
504 North Central
513 Creighton

Lest someone interprets this negatively, consider this. There are 2475 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. That places Valpo at the 80th percentile (top quintile). A commendable position.

[vu72]

Money Magazine released its 2018 "727 Best Colleges in America" Ranking on August 13th. Valpo is 501.

http://time.com/money/best-colleges/#

Valpo compared to others in the Top 10 "Midwest Universities" ranking from the US News:

197 John Carroll
233 Evansville
288 Drake
296 Bradley
353 Truman State
477 Xavier
499 Butler
501 Valpo
504 North Central
513 Creighton

Lest someone interprets this negatively, consider this. There are 2475 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. That places Valpo at the 80th percentile (top quintile). A commendable position.

It is still goofy.  I took classes at John Carroll and graduated from Valpo.  No comparison.  They are both regularly in the top 5 or so in US News so why the 300 slot difference?  And Creighton lower than a state school (Truman State)?