It might be fall to most people, but at colleges and universities across the U.S., it’s also ranking season. The U.S. News & World Report list came out Sept. 18, but there are several others ways higher education is compared.
WSJ/College Pulse
The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse rankings emphasize how much a college improves its students’ chances of graduating on time, and how much it boosts the salaries they earn after graduation. The University of Florida (15) and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (19) were the only public schools in the lists top 20.
Florida, for instance, had a score of 94 on graduation rate compared to similar colleges, and with an average net price of $3,679, the value added to a graduate’s salary was $44,468.
Pitt came in at 307th overall and 148th among public schools. The graduation rate vs. similar colleges scored at 43. The average net price was $27,926, with value added to graduate’s salary at $33,744.
Princeton, MIT and Yale led the overall list.
Other rankings
College-Access Index: The New York Times recently published the College-Access Index, a list of the country’s 286 most-selective universities ranked in order of economic diversity. It based this measurement on the percentage of first-year students in 2020-21 who received Pell grants, which typically go to lower-income students. Pitt had 17 percent of students receiving Pell grants, which tied it at 186th with 20 other private and public schools. The report also showed the change in the percentage of recipients since 2011, and Pitt was up 1 percent. In fall 2020, Pitt began offering the Pitt Success program, in which the University matches any Pell grants students receive. Leading the list was Berea College in Kentucky, with 94 percent of its 1,400 receiving Pell grants.
School of Education: The School of Education’s Doctor of Education program was selected as the 2023 Program of the Year by the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate. The national honor is for institutions who demonstrate excellence, innovation, impact, and alignment with CPED’s framework. CPED is an international consortium of more than 140 colleges and schools of education that are committed to the advancement of the doctorate in education degree. Find more information here.
Pitt–Bradford: The Bradford campus was recognized for an eighth year as a substantial value college and one that contributes to the public good by Washington Monthly. Pitt-Bradford was the No. 2 Pennsylvania public college in the nationwide ranking of colleges and universities that focus on students earning bachelor’s degrees. Also on that list, the campus ranked seventh in earnings performance and 22nd in number of ROTC students and 32nd in social mobility. Using information from the federal College Scorecard, Washington Monthly bases its national college rankings on social mobility, research and community, and national service.
— Susan Jones
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