APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University is the top-ranked undergraduate institution in Wisconsin and 68th best in the nation according to a recently released report on America’s top colleges by Forbes.com.
Hailing it as “an alternative” to the annual rankings done by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes has ventured into the college rankings business for the first time with the release of its own “America’s Best Colleges” list.
The Forbes.com report ranks 569 of the nation’s 4,000 colleges and universities without regard for size. Forbes.com says it used data from a variety of sources to help answer questions from a student’s perspective: How good will my professors be? Will the school help me achieve notable career success? If I have to borrow money to pay for college, how deeply will I go into debt? What are the chances I will graduate in four years? Are the students and faculty recognized nationally, or even globally?
In addition to finishing first among 10 ranked Wisconsin institutions, Lawrence also was ranked on Forbes.com’s list ahead of such traditional heavyweights as the University of California-Berkeley (73), Duke University (80) and the Ivy League’s Cornell University (121) and Dartmouth College (127). Princeton University, California Institute of Technology and Harvard University were ranked first, second and third, respectively, in the report.
“We’re happy that Forbes has discovered what a lot of people already know about Lawrence: with our excellent faculty and extraordinary focus on individualized learning, Lawrence is a place that has a meaningful and transformational effect on its students,” said Ken Anselment, director of admissions. “Of course, no ranking report — no matter how favorable — is a substitute for a thoughtful college search that includes visits to the campuses a student is seriously considering.”
In compiling its rankings, Forbes.com applied a strong student perspective, basing its points system on the quality of the education the college or university provides and how much their students achieve. Its methodology was developed by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder in conjunction with researchers at the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit think tank Center for College Affordability and Productivity.
Three factors determined the remaining 50 percent of an institution’s score: the average amount of student debt at graduation held by students who borrowed; the percentage of students who graduated in four years; and the number of students or faculty, adjusted for enrollment, who have won nationally competitive awards such as Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes.
Forbes.com used seven million student evaluations of college courses and professors from the Web site RateMyProfessors.com, for 25 percent of the score. The remaining quarter of the score was based on the number of the school’s alumni, adjusted for enrollment, listed in “Who’s Who in America.”
Generally speaking, smaller liberal arts colleges, with their personal attention and strong faculties, fare well in Forbes.com’s rankings, while larger state schools performed poorly. Eight liberal arts colleges were ranked among the top 20 institutions nationally, including two in the top five, Swarthmore (4) and Williams (5). Many of the large state universities landed well down Forbes.com’s list, including UW-Madison (335), the University of Arizona (383) and the University of Minnesota (524).
