USNW's primary criteria for classifying universities between National and Regional is the number and breadth of PhD and doctoral programs. Valpo (like any other university) has no input into which classification they are assigned to. Valpo's only way to affect this would be to reduce doctoral and PhD programs.
At the time Valpo was moved to National, I got really excited cuz I understood that move was based on the fact that Valpo has always attracted a national enrollment. But that was in another era.
Perhaps not as much as previous generations but, did you know that just our athletes come from 37 different states, including Alaska and Hawaii, and 10 foreign countries?
A "different" spin on the rankings:
Yes, typically regional universities get recategorized on the national scale on account of the grad programs, and for many regional unis it was once they added three doctoral programs. Indeed Valpo has three:
- Doctor of Nursing Pracitice
- Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD)
- Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (DrOT) (Online program)
I share the view that it was better for Valpo to be a high-ranked regional university than a low-ranked national university, but I am not sure (given all the focus on promoting CONHP) that the Board/Admin/CFO people would be willing to cut one of these in order to be recategorized as as regional. I don't have the sense that these are hugely important for Valpo's prestige on either the uni or college level, so the decision to add/cut such doctoral programs would probably depend on what sort of short-term cash flow they are or aren't bringing in.
What was our ranking last year?
Previous rankings:
2024: Best National College category, #204
2023: Best National College category, #201
2022: Best National College category, #176
2021: Best National College category, #160
2020: Best Regional University category, #5
2019: Best Regional University category, #5
2018: Best Regional University category, #5
2017: Best Regional University category, #5
2016: Best Regional University category, #5
2015: Best Regional University category, #5
2014: Best Regional University category, #5
@vu72 Uh yeah, that VU news piece certainly offers a different 'spin.' But I think it's pretty delusional and ineffective. Sure, you can try to make it sound like a good thing by using the word 'national' a lot - but no prospective parents or students are going to put that much stock in the fact that we're simply on the list rather than not. If they pay attention to rankings, the #204 seems pretty bad. Unfortunately, you really need to be in the top 100 for it to be a significant positive point of applicant/enrollment draw. At the #200+ rankings, enrollment is going to depend much more on factors like location if you're in a really dense or desirable location like Boston or Southern California; or on distinct academic offerings and reputation; or sports.
For Valpo, the top 5 'Regional' ranking would do much better as an actual enrollment attractor.
