Monthly Archives: November 2013

U.S. News: Major Public Universities with Highest Freshman Retention Rates

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Although the annual U.S. News college rankings are a cause of considerable controversy, the magazine is a source of excellent information.  One useful metric is that for freshman retention–the percentage of entering freshmen who return for the sophomore year.

The freshman retention rate can be somewhat misleading, however, because many of the leading universities also have the most selective admissions requirements, making academic success much more likely.  Another reason the rate can be misleading is that the nation’s elite private universities not only have the highest-qualified students, as measure by test scores and high school gpa’s, but also provide generous financial support that makes it unnecessary for students to work or drop out of school.

Yet this makes high freshman retention rates in public universities all the more impressive, especially when some of these schools achieve high retention rates even though they are not among the most selective in their admissions.  (This is especially so when tuition, fees, and cost of living are above average.)  Delaware, Michigan State, Penn State, Pitt, Ohio State, UC Santa Cruz, and Washington are examples.  Florida and Florida State also have impressive retention rates, but they also offer strong academics along with very low tuition costs.

Below please see the list of the public universities with the best freshman retention rates.  We will list the retention percentage, followed by the percentage of students accepted.

UC Berkeley–97% retention rate, 18% acceptance rate

UCLA–97% retention rate, 22% acceptance rate

North Carolina–97% retention rate, 28% acceptance rate

Virginia–97% retention rate, 30% acceptance rate

Florida–96% retention rate, 44% acceptance rate

Michigan–96% retention rate, 37% acceptance rate

William & Mary–95% retention rate, 32% acceptance rate

UC San Diego–95% retention rate, 38% acceptance rate

Georgia Tech–94% retention rate, 55% acceptance rate

UC Irvine–94% retention rate, 42% acceptance rate

Maryland–94% retention rate, 47% acceptance rate

Ohio State–93% retention rate, 64% acceptance rate

Connecticut–93% retention rate, 45% acceptance rate

Washington–93% retention rate, 59% acceptance rate

Florida State–92% retention rate, 54% acceptance rate

Penn State–92% retention rate, 54% acceptance rate

Rutgers–92% retention rate, 41% acceptance rate

Texas A&M–92% retention rate, 60% acceptance rate

Delaware–92% retention rate, 57%  acceptance rate

Pitt–92% retention rate, 56% acceptance rate

UT Austin–92% retention rate, 47% acceptance rate

Virginia Tech–92% retention rate, 70% acceptance rate

Binghamton–91% retention rate, 43% acceptance rate

Michigan State-91% retention rate, 71% acceptance rate

North Carolina State–91% retention rate, 50% acceptance rate

Clemson–90% retention rate, 58% acceptance rate

Stony Brook–90% retention rate, 42% acceptance rate

UC Santa Cruz–90% retention rate, 61% acceptance rate

Minnesota–90% retention rate, 50% acceptance rate

 

 

 

 

 

Rhodes Scholars 2014: UVA, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Wisconsin Have Winners

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The latest list of Rhodes Scholars (awarded in November 2013 for the year 2014) includes six recipients from Harvard, three from Yale, and two from Princeton, giving the Ivy League 11 of the 32 awards won by American Students for 2014.  Rhodes awards for the year 2013 included 16 winners from Ivy schools.

The University of Virginia led public universities with two winners for 2014; UVA also had a Rhodes scholar in 2013.   Virginia and North Carolina are the leaders among all state universities in the number of Rhodes Scholars earned by their graduates.  Georgia Tech had one awardee in 2014 and one in 2013. 

Congratulations to Virginia winner Evan Behrle, a Jefferson Scholar and Charles S. Tyson, a Beinecke Scholar.  Also congratulations to Mississippi State scholar Donald Mayfield Brown, whose senior thesis was on novelist Ralph Ellison.   Drew A. Birrenkott of the University of Wisconsin was previously a Goldwater Scholar.  Lindsay A. Lee of the University of Tennessee was diagnosed at age 3 with muscular dystrophy.  She plans to use her mathematics modeling to promote equal access to health care for all.  Melissa L. McCoy graduated summa cum laude in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech.  Zarko Perovic of UC Berkeley graduated in the top 5 in his class.  Growing up in Serbia, he witnessed firsthand the horror of war crimes, and his research will be directed at making it more feasible for victims to document atrocities.

The most prestigious academic award in the world, Rhodes Scholarships fund two or three years of study at Oxford;  at total of 838 students applied this year.  The approximate yearly value of a Rhodes Scholarship is $50,000.  Increasingly, it appears, the awards are going to students at elite private schools and the service academies, despite some relatively good showings by public universities in recent years.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point had two winners for 2014. Last year, West Point and Annapolis each had one Rhodes scholar.  Stanford also had two.

Additional state university leaders throughout the history of  Rhodes Scholarships are Washington, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, UT Austin, Kansas, Mississippi, Arizona, Georgia, and Nebraska.

Rhodes winners are chosen after district-level interviews.  At the end of this post are the 32 winners for 2014, by district.

There are 16 districts:

2013 Districts

Please be aware that there may be changes in interview locations and the states grouped within Districts from year to year.

District 1 – New York, NY
(Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont)

District 2 – Boston, MA
(Connecticut, Massachusetts)

District 3 – New York, NY
(New York)

District 4 – Philadelphia, PA
(Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia)

District 5 – Washington, DC
(Maryland/DC, North Carolina)

District 6 – Atlanta, GA
(Georgia, Virginia)

District 7 – Birmingham, AL
(Alabama, Florida, Tennessee)

District 8 – Houston, TX
(Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas)

District 9 – Indianapolis, IN
(Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio)

District 10 – Chicago, IL
(Illinois, Michigan)

District 11 – Chicago, IL
(Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin)

District 12 – St. Louis, MO
(Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina)

District 13 – Colorado Springs, CO
(Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah)

District 14 – Seattle, WA
(Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming)

District 15 – San Francisco, CA
(California-North, Arizona, Nevada)

District 16 – Los Angeles, CA
(California-South, Hawaii)

Rhodes winners are chosen after district-level interviews.  Here are the 32 winners for 2014, by district.

District 1:

Jessica Wamala, Milford, N.H., Villanova University

Alexander Joel Diaz, North Bergen, N.J., Harvard University

District 2:

Elizabeth Hockfield Byrne, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University

Katherine Elida Warren, Bainbridge Island, Wash., Harvard University

District 3:

Isabel Emma Eggleston Beshar, Rye, N.Y., Yale University

Paolo Poggioni Singer, Bronx, N.Y., Harvard University

District 4:

Evan Barrett Behrle, Oxford, Penn., University of Virginia

Alexander Gerard Wang, Doylestown, Penn., New York University, Abu Dhabi

District 5:

Timothy Michael McGinnis, Charlotte, N.C., Princeton University

Charles Samuel Tyson, Chapel Hill, N.C. University of Virginia

District 6:

Brian Westfall McGrail, Arlington, Va., Williams College

Emma Pierson, Arlington, Va., Stanford University

District 7:

James O’Connell, Tampa, Fla., Wake Forest University

Lindsay Evans Lee, Oak Ridge, Tenn., University of Tennessee, Knoxville

District 8:

Melissa Loreice McCoy, Dallas, Texas, Georgia Institute of Technology

John Mikhael, Dallas, Texas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

District 9:

Adam Mastroianni, Monroeville, Ohio, Princeton University

Courtney Wittekind, Mason, Ohio, Carnegie Mellon University

District 10:

Vinay Nayak, Oak Brook, Ill., Yale University

Calla Glavin, Birmingham, Mich., United States Military Academy

District 11:

Drew Alan Birrenkott, McFarland, Wisc., University of Wisconsin

Samuel Martin Greene, Spring Green, Wisc., University of Chicago

District 12:

Donald Mayfield Brown, Vicksburg, Miss., Mississippi State University

Joshua Allen Aiken, Eugene, Ore., Washington University, St. Louis

District 13:

Meredith Lukens Wheeler, Fort Collins, Colo., Stanford University

Erin Alexandra Tanith Mauldin, Albuquerque, N.M., United States Military Academy

District 14:

Suzanna Marie Fritzberg, Lake Forest Park, Wash., Yale University

Andrew Scott Lea, Richland, Wash., Harvard University

District 15:

Miles William Unterreiner, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford University

Clarke Knight, Henderson, Nev., Smith College

District 16:

Aurora Catherine Griffin, Westlake Village, Calif., Harvard University

Zarko Perovic, San Diego, Calif., University of California, Berkeley

Surprise: Public Universities Have the Best Academic Departments

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We have completed an analysis of academic departmental rankings published by U.S. News, and one result may be a surprise: of the top 56 universities with the best academic departments, 34 are public.   After the top dozen or so universities, including familiar names such as Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, and Yale, the list is dominated by public institutions.

Part of the reason is that the public universities below are leading research institutions, while a few of the elite private schools that show up in the top 25 of the U.S. News rankings are not really research-intensive.  Examples are Dartmouth, Georgetown, and Notre Dame.  Yet most of the other elite private schools do have a research focus along with many respected graduate courses of study.

Prospective honors students, more than most other students who are considering college, should pay close attention to the rankings of the academic departments in the schools they are considering.  Why do we believe that this is so?

1.  As the somewhat surprising departmental statistics below demonstrate, some of the strongest academic departments in the nation are at public research universities, where the disadvantages of large schools are mitigated by offering honors students relatively small honors communities and classes.

2. Conventional national college rankings often emphasize financial resources, selectivity, small class size, and graduation rates to the point that the actual quality of academic departments can be obscured.  But public university honors students typically have smaller classes and much higher graduation rates than those for the university as a whole.

3. Honors students interested in post-graduate research options should know that there is a strong correlation between highly-rated academic departments and the number of National Science Graduate Research Grants as well as the number of Fulbright Student awards.  Both of these awards are allied with careers in research and academe.

4.  Strong academic departments and an emphasis on undergraduate research, which is often a component of honors programs, also promotes high achievement in earning undergraduate awards, such as Goldwater scholarships.

Having listed the points we above, we also advise prospective honors students to ask honors staff about the reach of the honors curriculum and whether the best professors in strong academic departments are available to teach at least upper-division honors sections.

The departmental rankings below may include up to 15 departments from each university: undergraduate business, undergraduate engineering, and graduate rankings for biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth science, economics, education, English, history, math, physics, political science, psychology, and sociology.

Universities whose stats do not include all 15 of the departments above may not do so because (1) they might not offer undergraduate or graduate degrees in the subject (e.g., business, education, engineering); or (2) the ranking of the department is in the lower third of the rankings and are not listed at all.

On the left is the cumulative ranking of academic departments, by institution.  Next we list the number of departments included in the analysis.  Then the actual rating is listed, with, for example, the 2.71 rating for Stanford indicating that of the 14 ranked departments, the overall average was 2.71 on a scale of 1 to 200, with 1 being the best national ranking a department can receive.  Thus the “average” department at Stanford is in the top 3 nationally.  The final listing is the 2014 U.S. News rank of the university as a whole.  Please note that if you are a student of the U.S. News rankings, the cumulative academic department rating is not the same as the “peer assessment” used in the rankings, though there is some correlation.  Public universities are in bold type.

 Dept Rank                   #Depts        Rating                 US News                     

1-Stanford

14

2.71

5

2-UC Berkeley

15

3.13

20

3-MIT

12

4.58

7

4-Harvard

14

5.57

2

5-Caltech

8

5.63

10

6-Princeton

13

5.77

.

1

7-Michigan

15

9.47

28

8-Columbia

13

10.85

4

9-Cornell

14

11.64

16

10-Chicago

12

11.92

5

11-Yale

13

12.00

3

12-Wisconsin

15

12.73

41

13-UCLA

14

12.86

23

14-UT-Austin

15

14.27

52

15-Penn

15

18.53

7

16-Northwestern

14

19.00

12

17-Illinois

15

19.33

41

18-Johns Hopkins

14

19.36

12

19-Washington

15

21.67

52

20-Duke

13

22.38

7

21-Minnesota

15

23.07

69

22-UC San Diego

14

23.29

39

23-Ohio State

15

25.47

52

24-North Carolina

15

25.80

30

25-Penn State

15

25.93

37

26-Brown

13

27.08

14

27-Maryland

15

27.40

62

28-Indiana

14

29.07

75

29-Wash U

13

29.08

14

30-UC Davis

14

30.57

39

31-Virginia

15

32.47

23

32-Georgia Tech

9

32.78

36

33-Emory

11

33.00

20

34-Vanderbilt

14

33.29

17

35-Rice

12

33.83

18

36-UC Irvine

13

34.31

49

37-UC Santa Barb

14

35.64

41

38-Colorado

15

37.00

86

39–USC

15

37.73

23

40-Arizona

15

38.20

119

41-Purdue

15

40.33

68

42-Dartmouth

8

42.75

10

43-Michigan State

15

43.20

73

44-Texas A&M

15

43.80

69

45-Rutgers

15

43.87

63

46-Florida

15

44.00

49

47-Pitt

15

46.00

62

48-Iowa

15

46.93

73

49-Stony Brook

14

47.08

82

50-Arizona State

15

47.27

142

51-Oregon

14

49.36

109

52-Massachusetts

14

52.14

91

53-Notre Dame

13

52.23

18

54-Virginia Tech

12

57.58

69

55-Illinois Chicago

15

58.07

128

56-Georgetown

6

59.33

20

Auburn Honors College Student Wins Marshall Scholarship

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Editor’s Note: The following post is from the OANews…

Auburn University senior Patrick Donnan has been named a recipient of the prestigious Marshall Scholarship, becoming one of only 40 U.S. students selected to attend their choice of university in the United Kingdom.

“We are very proud of Patrick, both for his accomplishments at Auburn and for his being named a Marshall Scholar,” said Melissa Baumann, Auburn University assistant provost and director of the Honors College. “He has displayed great leadership in the classroom and the laboratory and in advancing science in the community.”

Auburn native Donnan, who has a 3.98 grade-point average, is a student in the Honors College double-majoring in physics and music, concentrating on the bassoon, and minoring in mathematics. He is also a 2013 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar and is a Rhodes Scholar finalist this year.

“I am truly humbled,” Donnan said. “Receiving the Marshall Scholarship is the culmination of all the work that my professors and Honors College staff have invested in me these past three years at Auburn. Even if I did not receive the award, going through the application process was beneficial in itself as it helped me grow as a person.

“I am looking forward to continuing my research in theoretical physics at Oxford and becoming a good ambassador for the United States and Auburn while abroad.”

Donnan conducts research in Auburn’s College of Sciences and Mathematics as a member of the theoretical and computational atomic physics group. He is an editor of the Auburn University Journal of Undergraduate Studies and has co-authored four peer-reviewed publications, one of which was published in Nature: The International Weekly Journal of Science.

“Patrick embodies a near ideal example of balance. He is an accomplished musician and an accomplished young scientist,” said Professor Ed Thomas, the Lawrence C. Wit Professor in the College of Sciences and Mathematics and one of Donnan’s research professors. “He has found a way to blend both of his passions into a seamless whole. Patrick not only has talent, but he has the dedication and self-awareness to put forth the effort and hard work to allow those talents to mature.”

Paul Harris, associate director for national prestigious scholarships in the Honors College, said, “I thoroughly enjoyed working with Patrick throughout the application process. He represents the very best of Auburn University and his generation. As a double major in physics and music, he is not only bright and intellectually engaging, but he also gives generously of his time and talents whether promoting research among his fellow physics majors or sharing his love for music as a member of the Auburn symphonic band.

The Marshall Scholarship program was established in 1953 by an act of British Parliament in honor of U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall as an expression of Britain’s gratitude for economic assistance received through the Marshall Plan after World War II. The program is overseen by the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission. Approximately 900 students are endorsed annually for the scholarship by their respective universities, for which 40 scholarships are awarded nationwide.

Schreyer Honors College: A Parent’s Perspective

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Tracy Riegel is the parent of two Penn State students and a contributor to the We Admit blog, from which the following post is taken. Tracy and her husband, Rick, are both Penn State alumni and members of the the Penn State Parents Program. As Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College releases its decisions today, Tracy shares her thoughts on the program:

I remember this time last year when my daughter Meghan was eagerly waiting for decisions from several private schools — one Ivy League school, one out-of-state school, and Schreyer Honors College. Needless to say, it was an anxious time for her and certainly one of self-reflection. After many years of studying, test taking, paper writing, SATs, AP tests, and countless other activities it all came down to this moment.

Like you, we had many discussions about the pros and cons of the various schools where she applied. We talked about courses, academic resources, campus life, opportunities to learn beyond the classroom, where could she see herself living, cost, value —it was a long list. Finally, decisions arrived and she was accepted to several of her choices, including the Ivy. She ultimately chose to attend Penn State and the Schreyer Honors College. Why? Here are just a few of the reasons:

  1. Only 300 students in each class (approximately), which was appealing to my daughter to be in such a selective group.
  2. Strong faculty advising.
  3. The honors curriculum covers all majors.
  4. Opportunities to take part in leadership development activities specifically for Schreyer scholars.
  5. The Schreyer Ambassador Travel Grant, which provides financial assistance for about 200 students per year to pursue education, research, service, or study abroad.
  6. A number of new service and leadership initiatives that are now underway domestically and internationally.
  7. Guaranteed housing in the center of campus.
  8. Donuts with Dean Brady — an opportunity to meet with the dean in an informal setting.
  9. SHO Time first year orientation and the opportunity to be an orientation leader as an upperclassman.
  10. Preferred scheduling for classes. Your student will not have to enroll in the last section available, which is usually at 8 a.m.!

I’m sure there are many more personal reasons why students would choose the Schreyer Honors College. Meghan felt that it was a good way to make a large university smaller. She is able to take advantage of all the Penn State has to offer as well as those opportunities within Schreyer. I won’t kid you, the classes are hard (just hearing her talk about her math and physics classes made my head spin!) and time management is key. She is hoping to be accepted as a research assistant this summer on campus with a professor, is currently tutoring for a physics class, and is involved in the THON organization Atlas. She hopes to go to Singapore in May for two weeks for a class, and help with SHO Time orientation next fall.

Meghan made the right choice for herself and for her education. She had many opportunities and chose Schreyer Honors College.

Arkansas Honors College Alum Wins Marshall Scholarship

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Michael Norton, an alumnus of the honors college at the University of Arkansas, has won a Marshall Scholarship to study political science at Oxford University.  Norton also earned a Truman Scholarship in 2012, and he is going to interview for a Rhodes Scholarship in the near future.  New rules allow winners of the Marshall to go forward with other interviews.

Already in an elite group for having won a Marshall and a Truman scholarship, Norton would be in super-elite company if he were to add a Rhodes Scholarship.

UA senior Rachael Pelligrino will also interview for a Rhodes Scholarship.  In addition, she is a finalist for a Truman Scholarship.

Norton will become the 7th UA winner of a Marshall Scholarship.  The scholarships provide full funding for academic and living expenses for two years of study at any university in the United Kingdom.  Most winners choose Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, King’s College of London, the London School of Economics, or Imperial College of London.

Norton told the Arkansas Traveler that the UofA Office of Nationally Competitive Awards was central to the development of his successful application.

“The office is a great treasure of the university when it comes to these awards,” he said.  Suzanne McCray of that office is known for her mock “interviews.”

The Marshall Scholarship was established in 1953. It awards up to 40 American students each year.  For the 2013 year, 943 students applied for the scholarship and 34 were selected.

MSU Honors Student Nominated for Three Major Awards

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Editor’s Note:  The story below was originally published on the Michigan State University Today site on November 13, 2013…

Craig Pearson, an Honors College senior majoring in neuroscience, biochemistry and molecular biology in the College of Natural Science and English in the College of Arts and Letters, has been selected to interview for the Rhodes Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship and has been nominated for the Churchill Scholarship.

Pearson is from Bloomfield Hills and graduated from University of Detroit Jesuit High School.

If awarded, he would become MSU’s 18th Marshall Scholar, its 17th Rhodes Scholar and its 17th Churchill Scholar.

Pearson was named a Goldwater Scholar in 2012 and he served on MSU’s 2013-14 Homecoming Court.

Stemming from a high school volunteering position in which he worked with students who have visual impairments, Pearson wants to develop treatments for blindness and visual impairments.

“In the past, going from blindness to sight has seemed practically unthinkable,” he said. “But in today’s climate of groundbreaking scientific research, this phenomenon is not merely possible, but a realistic goal. With dedication and rigorous research, we can restore vision and change lives. I want to be part of that phenomenon – to be there when someone opens his or her eyes and experiences the unimaginable rush of new sight.”

Pearson entered MSU as an Alumni Distinguished Scholarship recipient and now serves as an undergraduate research assistant in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and an undergraduate lab manager and lead undergraduate researcher for the Digital Humanities and Literary Cognition Lab.

He has served as a clinical volunteer at the MSU Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology. Pearson also is the student managing editor for ReCUR, the Red Cedar Undergraduate Research Journal, and is the founder and managing editor of Exceptions: The Art and Literary Journal for Students with Visual Disabilities.

“Craig has impressed us with his academic talent and service to others and we’re hopeful that he’ll be just as impressive during his interviews,” said Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, dean of the MSU Honors College.

– See more at: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/msu-senior-nominated-for-prestigious-scholarships/#sthash.s2Odq0x1.dpuf

Craig Pearson, an Honors College senior majoring in neuroscience, biochemistry and molecular biology in the College of Natural Science and English in the College of Arts and Letters, has been selected to interview for the Rhodes Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship and has been nominated for the Churchill Scholarship.

Pearson is from Bloomfield Hills and graduated from University of Detroit Jesuit High School.

If awarded, he would become MSU’s 18th Marshall Scholar, its 17th Rhodes Scholar and its 17th Churchill Scholar.

Pearson was named a Goldwater Scholar in 2012 and he served on MSU’s 2013-14 Homecoming Court.

Stemming from a high school volunteering position in which he worked with students who have visual impairments, Pearson wants to develop treatments for blindness and visual impairments.

“In the past, going from blindness to sight has seemed practically unthinkable,” he said. “But in today’s climate of groundbreaking scientific research, this phenomenon is not merely possible, but a realistic goal. With dedication and rigorous research, we can restore vision and change lives. I want to be part of that phenomenon – to be there when someone opens his or her eyes and experiences the unimaginable rush of new sight.”

Pearson entered MSU as an Alumni Distinguished Scholarship recipient and now serves as an undergraduate research assistant in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and an undergraduate lab manager and lead undergraduate researcher for the Digital Humanities and Literary Cognition Lab.

He has served as a clinical volunteer at the MSU Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology. Pearson also is the student managing editor for ReCUR, the Red Cedar Undergraduate Research Journal, and is the founder and managing editor of Exceptions: The Art and Literary Journal for Students with Visual Disabilities.

“Craig has impressed us with his academic talent and service to others and we’re hopeful that he’ll be just as impressive during his interviews,” said Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, dean of the MSU Honors College.

A Methodology Change: We Will Have More Expansive Data for Prestigious Scholarships

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All college ranking “systems” receive criticism based on the criteria they use, and our own efforts to evaluate honors colleges and programs have received a fair share of that criticism.

One component of our rating system is a measure of each university’s attainment of prestigious awards, such as Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, and Goldwater scholarships.  The criticism of this metric is based on the indisputable fact that not all of these awards are won by honors students.  But our view is that probably most of them are won by students who have either been in a core honors program at some point or who have at least been involved in departmental honors.  In addition, we believe that prospective honors students need to know what their prospects might be for winning one of these awards for themselves.  (We also will continue to have a second major ranking section that excludes the metric for prestigious scholarships and emphasizes only honors-specific factors.)

With that said, we agree that we have been too narrow in the scholarships we measure, and we have come to believe, based on our updated analysis, that in the first edition of our book the honors programs at a few institutions, most notably at the University of Maryland, Illinois, UCLA, and Rutgers were underrated, in part because of the scholarships we emphasized at that time. Accordingly, after months of research, we will expand the awards we use in calculations for the next edition of our book.  Awards in bold will be new additions.

Rhodes, Marshall, Gates Cambridge, Churchill, Truman, Udall, Goldwater, Fulbright*,
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Grants, Boren, and Gilman. 

*Fulbright Student awards will now be counted for the three most recent years, as will Boren awards.  Fulbrights will not be adjusted for the size of the institution as was the case in the first edition.  Gilman scholars will be counted on a percentage basis.

The fact is that we have come to realize that only a very few public universities–or private universities, for that matter–excel in the attainment of all the awards listed above.  To maintain that the awards most familiar to the public, such as Rhodes, Marshall, and Truman scholarships, should trump lesser known awards would be to discount the strong impact of undergraduate awards (Goldwater, Udall, Boren, Gilman) and their important relation, in some cases, to undergraduate research.   Expanding the awards will also broaden the field of competition for our expanded list of programs, now 75 versus only 50 covered in the first edition.

 

Best Public Universities for Study-Abroad Scholarships

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No matter what your major is, you may be eligible for one of the almost 3,000 study-abroad scholarships for undergraduates awarded each year.  The generous Boren scholarships along with the far more numerous Gilman scholarships provide between $2,500 and $20,000 for studying abroad.

The keys: at least a 3.5 gpa for Boren awards and around a 3.4 gpa for Gilman awards AND excellent skills in the foreign languages emphasized by the Boren program (see below).  Gilman awards are for students receiving Pell grants, and chances are about 1 in 3 for long term awards and 1 in 5 for summer awards.  Gilman study must be for at least four weeks, and Boren study is generally a full semester or entire year.

We are completing our national database of prestigious undergraduate and graduate awards granted to students from 80 leading public universities.  The database now includes the full history of winners of the following awards: Rhodes, Marshall, Gates Cambridge, Churchill, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholarships, by university.

The database also includes the full history for Gilman study-abroad scholarships, and for Boren scholars awarded since 2003.

Following the program descriptions for Boren and Gilman scholarships, please see a list of the public universities whose students have earned the highest number of these study-abroad scholarships.

“Boren Scholarships provide up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

“The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded. For a complete list of countries, click here. Boren Scholars represent a variety of academic backgrounds, but all are interested in studying less commonly taught languages, including but not limited to Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Swahili.”

“The Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000. This scholarship provides awards for U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study and intern abroad programs worldwide.

“The program aims to encourage students to choose non-traditional study and intern destinations, especially those outside of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The Gilman Scholarship Program aims to support students who have been traditionally under-represented in education abroad, including but not limited to, students with high financial need, community college students, students in underrepresented fields such as the sciences and engineering, students with diverse ethnic backgrounds, and students with disabilities.”

Gilman awards range from $2,500 to $5,000, depending on the duration of studying abroad.

Public University Leaders in Boren Scholarships (about 167 a year):

Arizona State (by a large margin), Maryland, Illinois, UT Austin, Arizona, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Pitt, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina, Michigan, Washington, Ohio University, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Public University Leaders in Gilman Scholarships (about 2,500 a year):

UC Berkeley (by a large margin), Arizona, UC Santa Barbara, UT Austin, UCLA, UMass Amherst, Oregon, Texas A&M, Illinois, Maryland, Illlinois Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida, and Temple.

 

 

Michigan, ASU, Rutgers, UT Austin Lead in 2013-2014 Fulbright Student Awards

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The major research universities with the most Fulbright Student Award winners for 2013-2014 have been announced, and Michigan, Arizona State, Rutgers, and UT Austin are the leaders among public institutions.

Over the last four years, Michigan, Arizona State, and Rutgers lead all public universities, followed by North Carolina, Maryland, Washington, and UT Austin.

Fulbright scholarships are for work in foreign countries and cover a broad range of disciplines.  They, along with National Science Foundation Research Grants, are among the most prestigious awards for graduating seniors and beginning graduate students.

Below are the leading universities, public and private, for Fulbright Student Awards for 2013-2014.   We will list the university name, number of awards, and the number of applicants this year for awards.  Note that there is little correlation between the size of a university and the total number of applicants or the number of awards.

Harvard: 39 awards/234 applicants

Michigan: 32 awards/151 applicants

Arizona State: 26 awards/60 applicants

Princeton: 26 awards/82 applicants

Northwestern: 23 awards/106 applicants

UT Austin: 22 awards/70 applicants

Columbia: 21 awards/107 applicants

Yale: 21 awards/106 applicants

Cornell: 20 awards/67 applicants

Chicago: 20 awards/98 applicants

Boston College: 19 awards/85 applicants

UC Berkeley: 18 awards/62 applicants

Duke: 16 awards/54 applicants

Ohio State: 16 awards/72 applicants

Stanford: 16 awards/75 applicants

Penn: 16 awards/81 applicants

Maryland: 15 awards/41 applicants

Rochester: 15 awards/32 applicants

William & Mary: 14 awards/53 applicants

North Carolina: 14 awards/91 applicants

Georgetown: 13 awards/50 applicants

Tulane: 13 awards/52 applicants

Colorado: 13 awards/42 applicants

Pitt: 13 awards/51 applicants

Fordham: 12 awards/44 applicants

UC San Diego: 12 awards/25 applicants

Washington U: 12 awards/43 applicants

Johns Hopkins: 11 awards/54 applicants

NYU: 11 awards/49 applicants

Penn State: 11 awards/54 applicants

San Diego State: 11 awards/47 applicants

Washington: 11 awards/77 applicants