The Academic Reputation Ranking in U.S. News: What It Means for Honors Students

Editor’s Note: This post was updated on August 15, 2017, to include new honors class size averages based on our most recent data.

In a previous post, Based on Academic Reputation Alone, Publics Would Be Higher in U.S. News Rankings, we write that many public universities have a reputation in the academic community that is much higher than their overall ranking by U.S. News.  In this post, we will summarize the reasons that prospective honors students and their parents might consider paying more attention to academic reputation than to other factors in the oft-cited rankings.

(Another related post: Alternative U.S. News Rankings: Lots of Surprises.)

First, these are factors to consider if the state university’s academic reputation is much stronger than its overall ranking:

1.  The overall rankings penalize public universities for their typically larger class sizes, but the average honors class size in the 50 major honors programs we track is 26.3 students, much smaller than the average class size for the universities as a whole.  Most of these honors classes are lower-division, where the preponderance of large classes is often the norm. First-year honors seminars and classes for honors-only students average 19 students per section.  Result:  the relatively poor rating the whole university might receive for class size is offset for honors students.

2.  The overall rankings hit some public universities hard for having relatively low retention and graduation percentages, but freshmen retention rates in honors programs are in the 90% range and higher; meanwhile six-year grad rates for honors entrants average 89%–much higher than the average rates for the universities as a whole.  Result: the lower rates for the universities as a whole are offset for honors students.

3.  All public universities suffer in the overall rankings because U.S. News assigns ranking points for both the wealth of the university as a whole and for the impact that wealth has on professors’ salaries, smaller class sizes, etc.  This is a double whammy in its consideration of inputs and outputs separately; only the outputs should be rated.  Result: the outputs for class size (see above) are offset for honors students, and the wealth of the university as an input should not be considered in the first place.

4.  For highly-qualified students interested in graduate or professional school, academic reputation and the ability to work with outstanding research faculty are big advantages. Honors students have enhanced opportunities to work with outstanding faculty members even in large research universities, many of which are likely to have strong departmental rankings in the student’s subject area.  Result: honors students are not penalized for the research focus of public research universities; instead, they benefit from it.

5.  Many wealthy private elites are generous in funding all, or most, need-based aid, but increasingly offer little or no merit aid.  This means that families might receive all the need-based aid they “deserve” according to a federal or institutional calculation and still face annual college costs of $16,000 to $50,000.  On the other hand, national scholars and other highly-qualified students can still receive significant merit aid at most public universities.  Result: if a public university has an academic reputation equal to that of a wealthy private elite, an honors student could be better off financially and not suffer academically in a public honors program.

But…what if the academic reputation of the public university is lower than that of a private school under consideration?   In this case, the public honors option should offer the following offsets:

1. The net cost advantage of the public university, including merit aid, probably needs to be significant.

2.  It is extremely important to evaluate the specific components of the honors program to determine if it provides a major “value-added” advantage–is it, relatively, better than the university as a whole.  Typically, the answer will be yes.  To determine how much better, look at the academic disciplines covered by the honors program, the actual class sizes, retention and graduation rates, research opportunities, and even honors housing and perks, such as priority registration.

Kiplinger Best Value Colleges 2015: The Honor$ Angle

In the past, we have listed the Kiplinger Best Value universities without much additional comment.  The Kiplinger methodology emphasizes a “quality” side in relation to the “cost” side of a university.  The quality side includes selectivity, retention, and four-year grad rates, while the cost side takes tuition, fees, merit aid, need-based aid, and post-graduation debt into account.

For 2015, Kiplinger presents a single list approach to compare private and public universities.  The list uses out-of-state tuition for state schools in order to provide an allegedly “apples to apples” comparison with private colleges and universities, which of course have the same listed tuition and fees for students from anywhere in the country.  The Kiplinger list also emphasizes need-based aid, and many of the best scholarships for honors students are merit-based.  (Kiplinger also lists best value public colleges separately.)

For highly-qualified prospective honors students, the Kiplinger list is misleading, because (a) most students going to public universities are in state and (b) many honors students who go out of state receive tuition offsets or merit aid that reduce the costs used by Kiplinger.  As we point out below, many private elites do not provide any merit aid, only need-based aid.  Families with relatively good incomes will find that even with all need-based aid provided by the private elite university, a typical family with a good income will still have to pay about $16,000 to $22,000 a year in out of pocket costs, and up to more than $50,000 a year if the family income is in the $200,000 range or higher.

So…if you’re the parent of a prospective honors student who is considering either an in-state or out-of-state public university, your cost assessment for purposes of comparison with the private elites must go beyond the Kiplinger data and include an evaluation of all merit-based (i.e., not need-based) aid offered to outstanding honors applicants.  While it’s true that National Merit Scholars and Semifinalists are often especially favored by public universities, it is also true that honors students who are not national scholars are also strong candidates for other types of merit aid.

Here are some examples:

The Kiplinger report for 2015 lists Princeton University as the number one best value in the nation.  With the cost of one year at Princeton now at $59,165, Kiplinger accurately states that Princeton provides 100% of need-based aid for all students.  Recall that need-based aid is the amount left over after the expected family contribution (EFC) has been calculated.  But the average amount that still remains to be paid by a family for the year at Princeton, after the school takes care of all need-based aid, is still about $21,982. (This would be about what a family of four with an adjusted gross income of $137,500 would have to pay, given savings of $50,000.)

The University of Arizona is not even listed among the 300 Kiplinger best value colleges in the nation, but an out-of-state national scholar/honors student at the UA Honors College would receive $30,000, against the $43,800 cost of tuition, fees, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses, leaving $13,800.   This is a four-year savings of about $32,000 versus Princeton.  An in-state national scholar would receive $20,000, compared to in-state costs of $18,300—in other words, a “full ride”—amounting to a savings of about $87,000 compared to Princeton.  Bear in mind that qualifying for a national scholarship is generally a lower requirement in terms of test scores than Princeton would require.

An out-of-state honors student and national scholar at the Joe C. and Carole Kerr McClendon Honors College at Oklahoma University can receive a whopping $120,000 in merit aid over four years (another full ride), which also includes funding for study abroad.  In-state national scholars receive $66,000, a full ride that also includes funding for study abroad.  Yet OU is ranked 196th among all 300 colleges by Kiplinger.

Other honors colleges that provide full ride merit scholarships are the University of Alabama Honors College, the University of Kentucky Honors Program, and the Sally McConnell Barksdale Honors College at Ole Miss.  Many others also provide very generous merit aid based on combinations of test scores and high school gpas.  Penn State’s excellent Schreyer Honors College provide ALL its freshmen with a $4,000 merit award, which is renewable for all four years.

So do you have to be a national scholar to receive the kind of financial aid that would lead you to choose a public honors program over an elite private university?

Consider that 95% of students at Arizona State’s outstanding Barrett Honors College receive merit aid—but 40% also have need-based aid on top of (not in place of) merit aid.  The number of national scholars who can receive merit aid from ASU is uncapped=no limit.  Most national scholars, in-state or out-of-state, receive tuition waivers or offsets to go along with any need-based aid.

About 90 students in the highly selective and excellent University of Georgia Honors Program are eligible for a Foundation Fellowship, which “approximates the full cost of attendance and supplies a generous set of enrichment funds to support study abroad, internships, undergraduate research, etc.”  Another 20-30 honors students receive the Ramsey Honors Scholarship that provides about 75% of the amount of the Foundation Fellowship.   The honors director reports that “the majority of these funding opportunities are directly attributable to the fact that the Honors Program has its own, very active fundraising office.”  The minimum test score requirements for these awards are generally lower than those for national scholarships.

Below are the public universities that have the best value, according to Kiplinger, in terms of in-state costs.  Please note that this list does not include any additional merit awards for honors students.

North Carolina

Virginia

UC Berkeley

UCLA

Michigan

William & Mary

Wisconsin

Maryland

Georgia

Washington

NC State

New College Florida

UT Austin

Ohio State

UC Santa Barbara

Georgia Tech

Binghamton

Truman State

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Tech

James Madison

Florida State

College of New Jersey

SUNY Geneseo

Texas A&M

Meet Robert Fisher–Rhodes Scholar 2015, UT Chattanooga

In his Rhodes Scholar interview, Robert Fisher was asked to talk about something he had seen that was strikingly beautiful.  The honors student from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga knew at once what he wanted to say:

“Looking out from Sunset Rock, on Lookout Mountain in Tennessee…Chattanooga is nestled between two mountains and a river runs through the city.  The real beauty in that view comes from knowing the place: I could see my university downtown, the river, even the highway, I could see where it goes.  I could see it all.”

Robert Fisher shaking hands with President Obama

One reason that Robert could “see it all” as such a young man is that as a Brock Scholar at UT Chattanooga he was challenged “to be an advocate, to become a civic leader, to tackle some really tough issues in the college and in the community.”  In the process, Robert evolved, as he puts it, to a point where the relationship between the university and the city of Chattanooga became his central focus.

Much of that evolution came from honors coursework and from the mentoring hand of a Brock Scholars alumnus, Demarcus Pegues, now a doctoral student at Columbia University.  Demarcus had already worked as an intern for two summers at the Institute for Responsible Citizenship in Washington, DC.  Debbie Bell, now associate director of the honors college, helped Robert connect with Demarcus, and Robert then gained acceptance into the program and interned for two summers in Washington, where he met President Obama.

“The Brock Scholars program (now a four-year honors track incorporated into the new Honors College) was really good at encouraging us to find out who we are from the time we arrived,” Robert said.  “They were so great in putting me in touch with mentors.”

The Brock Scholars Program/ Honors College is both challenging and still small enough that mentoring is readily at hand.  The College now has 140 students, but with a new dean brought on board in 2013, Dr. Linda Frost, both staff and facilities will expand sufficiently to accommodate about 600 students.   Aside from the mentoring, the College has also taken on a role that fits perfectly with Robert’s interests: leveraging the relationship of the university and the city of Chattanooga to the benefit of both.

The College sponsored the first-ever TEDx event last October–and Robert was one of two student speakers, discussing ways to overcome some of the inequities that still exist in the rapidly-growing (and quickly improving) city.

The College has also adopted a rigorous curriculum and completion requirement, effective for Fall 2015.  Brock Scholars will have to complete at least 31 honors credits; the average completion requirement for the 50 national university honors programs covered in our recent Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs was less demanding–28 credits.

The profile of the Honors College students is also competitive with those at national university honors programs.  The mean ACT for the Honors College is 30.7, virtually the same as for the 50 national universities.

Financial aid is also especially generous for Brock Scholars.  Dean Frost says that “in addition to their separately funded university merit scholarship and their Tennessee Hope scholarship, 30-35 Brock Scholars have been awarded an additional $16,000 scholarship ($4,000 per year) for some time.”  Honors housing is also available–apartment-style, air-conditioned, with convenient dining and laundry facilities.

Cost, location, and challenging classes were what brought Robert to UTC from his home in Clarksville, TN, and to the Brock Scholars Program.  “I wanted to go to a university that would prepare me for graduate school,” he says, and now he certainly has his wish.

“Robert is one of the most articulate, intelligent, thoughtful, balanced, mature, and charismatic students with whom I have ever worked,” says Dean Frost.  “It is the combination of all these talents that has attracted so many leading authorities to Robert, people such as the Chancellor of our own campus, the mayor of Chattanooga, the President of the University of Tennessee system, and even the governor of the state.

“All of these figures have recognized the amazing presence and intellect that characterize Robert and have sought out his leadership in their own initiatives as a result.  Only the fourth two-term Student Government President in UTC history, Robert is not just a natural leader; he is an informed, cautious, and brave one.  He has also been my colleague since I stepped foot in Chattanooga, sharing and developing ideas with me about the founding of our Honors College.  And well he should because it was the Brock Scholars Program, our long-standing four-year honors program, that brought Robert to our campus and that has afforded him many of the experiences that helped him develop his leadership abilities and style.”

His experiences in Washington, one result of honors mentoring, gave strong focus to Robert’s interest in public service.  Now as a senior at UTC, Robert’s passion is finding ways to strengthen what he sees as the mutually beneficial relationship between the university and the city of Chattanooga.   Robert has served as co-chair of the Downtown Task-force for Mayor Andy Berke’s Chattanooga Forward  Initiative, working to bring more energy, dynamism, and inclusiveness to downtown Chattanooga.

He is already serving on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, University of Tennessee Advocacy Council, University of Tennessee Alumni Association Board of Governors, University of Tennessee President’s Budget Advisory Group, and Academic Affairs and Student Success Committee of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.

The former star debater in high school says his debate coach also made a great contribution to his successes in college and in the competition for prestigious scholarships.  As Dean Frost noted, Robert is exceptionally articulate, but he has now learned along the way that in both the honors classroom and in the sometimes contentious world of local and university governance, it is not sufficient to be able to take one side or another of an issue and argue it effectively, regardless of where one’s personal values lie, because government in action is about reconciling values that can be extremely personal.

In the much more real world of city and university politics, almost everyone has strong convictions; listening, thinking and reasoning through divisive issues, respecting other views while advocating for your own–all of these skills are much more important and harder to master than simply declaiming on this or that side of a single issue.

In debate, Robert says, he could separate his inner person and beliefs from the position he was assigned to argue in competition.  Sometimes he might agree, or partially agree, or even completely disagree with the argument he had crafted and presented for the competitions.

But in honors humanities classes, Robert learned not only “how to state an answer but how to reason your way through to find the answer, and how to deal with disagreement in a civil manner.”

Honors humanities seminars were “foundational” for him and other students because of the critical learning skills they developed, but the courses also taught honors students how to “become better persons” through sharing honest insights, discovering similarities and differences, and often developing more subtle or comprehensive views.

“That’s healthy because it invites us to have a more thoughtful approach to understanding something, and to challenge ourselves, to evolve—the beauty of my experience in college has been to use all that I’ve learned–my government leadership, the academics, my personal development–the confluence of the personal, the academic, and the professional.”

If Robert’s accomplishments and interests make him sound like an ideal candidate for a Truman Scholarship, which is awarded to outstanding juniors who plan to make a contribution through public service, well…Robert did win a Truman Scholarship in 2014, and he was a Presidential Fellow in 2013-2014.  “I have four years to begin using the Truman Scholarship,” he said, “and so now I can go on to Oxford [as a Rhodes Scholar] and get a master’s degree first.”  At Oxford, he plans to study comparative social policy.  Later, he might consider a doctoral program at UCLA, Columbia, or perhaps someplace else.

And…if Robert’s accomplishments also sound like those of a young man who might seek elective office, then the answer is yes.  “I certainly have an interest in running for public office, and I like to see the changes up close as they happen–and so local government is really interesting.”

But it’s easy to see Robert leading at a higher level.  The photograph of the new Rhodes Scholar shaking hands with the President brings to mind another photo taken more than fifty years ago: the future Rhodes Scholar Bill Clinton shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy.

With continued support from both parents, who “from kindergarten on, had very high expectations for both my sister and me,” and with the lessons already learned at UTC, Robert Fisher’s vision will continue to grow during his time at Oxford.  The view from that storied university is as expansive as it gets, especially for someone who has been to Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, and heard freedom ring loud and clear.

Marshall Scholars 2015: Eleven Public University Winners

Eleven of the 31 Marshall Scholars for 2015 are from public universities, the same number selected in 2014. The Marshall Scholarship is one of the most prestigious in the world, providing full funding for two years of study at major universities in the United Kingdom.  In general, public universities fare better with Marshall Scholarships than with Rhodes Scholarships, partly because one of the Rhodes interview regions almost always selects an extremely high percentage of Ivy students.

Not that the Marshall process is unfriendly to the Ivies: Yale students won 6 Marshall Scholarships for 2015, a truly outstanding achievement.

Marshall Scholars may receive awards valued at about $28,000 a year.  The scholarship is for one, two, or three years, depending on the scholar’s plans, research focus, and disciplines offered at UK universities.

At least six of the 11 winners from state universities are enrolled in honors colleges or programs, while at least one more is in a university that does not have an honors program (UC Berkeley) and another winner is at a school that just started an honors program in Fall 2014 (UT Brownsville).

Auburn (Honors College), the University of New Mexico (one from honors program), and UT Austin (Plan II) have had Marshall Scholars in both 2014 and 2015.

Here is the 2015 list, with the name of the UK university below the winner’s name:

Nicholas Adler— Villanova
University of Cambridge

Gavin Baird–Cal State University Fresno
London School of Economics and Political Science

Christopher Birmingham–Gonzaga
University of Bristol

Morgan Breene — University of Rhode Island (and an honors program student)
University of Southampton

Hope Bretcher –University of Chicago
University of Edinburgh

Jacob Calvert — University of Illinois
University of Bristol

Hayden Dahmm –Swarthmore
University of Cambridge

Dahlia D’Arge –University of Kentucky, an honors program student, and ROTC
University of Glasgow

Benjamin Daus-Haberle –Yale University
University of Oxford

Edmund Downie –Yale University
University of Oxford

Julia Ebert – Northeastern University
University of London, Imperial College

Michael George –Harvard College
London School of Economics and Political Science

Tess Grogan –Smith College
University of St. Andrews

Anna Hagen –Harvard College
University of Oxford

Ryan Henrici –Penn State, and a Schreyer Honors College student
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Felipe Hernandez–UC Irvine, and a CHP Honors Program student
University of Bristol

Jeffrey Holzgrafe –Olin College of Engineering
University of Cambridge

Andrea Howard – United States Naval Academy
King’s College London

Mark Jbeilly –UT Austin, and a Plan II Honors student
University of Oxford

Adam Jermyn –Caltech
University of Cambridge

Linda Kintsler –Bowdoin
University of Cambridge

Sarah Mohamed –UC Berkeley
University of Oxford

Sarah Norvell, Yale
University of Oxford

Ashton Richardson –Auburn, and a student in the honors college
University of Sheffield

Amanda Rizzolo –Yale
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA)

Ryan Roco –Univ of New MexicoSchool of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Rahul Singh –Yale
London School of Economics and Political Science

Tayler Ulmer –Spelman College
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Spencer Wilson –MIT
University of Cambridge

Jacqueline Zavala –UT Brownsville
University of East Anglia

Meet Tayo Sanders–Rhodes Scholar 2015, UW-Eau Claire

One of the most positive developments in higher education has been the establishment of honors colleges and programs in public “regional comprehensive” universities–and in the last few years both the honors programs and the universities have shown that their students can compete with any in the land.

Take the case of Tayo Sanders II, a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Honors Program student who has completed 11 research projects, published two papers in materials science journals, made 11 presentations around the country, won a Goldwater Scholarship…oh, and was named a Rhodes Scholar for 2015. 

In addition, in Spring 2015, Tayo will serve as a mentor in University Honors, co-teaching a section of Honors 100, said Dr. Jeff Vahlbusch, director of University Honors. The UW-Eau Clair Honors Program was one of five regional comprehensive honors programs we reviewed in the 2014 edition of A Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs.  The other regional university honors programs or colleges we reviewed are at Eastern Illinois, Grand Valley State, UNC Wilmington, and Western Kentucky.

“In my judgment, Tayo Sanders will rise to the very top of every endeavor in which he chooses to take significant part, and will spend his life leading,” Vahlbusch said.  “In Tayo, a truly stellar intellect and a sheer unending range of interests and abilities are united with a wonderfully engaging personality, great communications skills, and deep care and respect for others.  Everything that Tayo is and does is characterized by a humane gentleness, a fine sense of humor, and strong loyalty to the programs and organizations in which he works and plays.”

In his spare time, Tayo serves as co-captain of the university’s triathlon club, and he has competed in collegiate triathlons around the country.  And then there’s his mastery of Salsa dancing, his work as a University Ambassador and Ronald E. McNair Scholar, and his community outreach work in which he interests K-6 students in STEM careers.  But nothing gets in the way of his passion for research.

“Tayo is an outstanding researcher, and I doubt there are many undergraduate researchers possessing such a broad, yet well-developed, skill set,” said Dr. Jennifer Dahl, an assistant professor in the department of materials science.  She has facilitated and mentored Tayo’s research for three years. “I met Tayo early in his first semester at UW-Eau Claire and was instantly impressed by his poise, intelligence and enthusiasm for science.”

Tayo Sanders and Dr. Jennifer Dahl

(Tayo will earn his bachelor’s degree in materials science with emphasis in chemistry and liberal arts from UW-Eau Claire in May 2015.)

He is one new Rhodes Scholar who has already been to Oxford:  Thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, he participated in a nanoparticles research project at the University of Strasbourg in France in the summer of 2013.  During the research program, he made a trip to Oxford University and met faculty and students and toured the materials labs.  It was then that he decided he wanted to pursue a doctorate at the famous institution–and now he will as a Rhodes Scholar.

A first generation college student, Tayo now wants to follow in the footsteps of his research mentor and the other faculty he has worked with in material science and the honors program.

“My ultimate goal is to become a professor and emulate the research experience I’ve had with Dr. Dahl with students of my own,” Tayo said. “I will do everything I can to be in a position where I can give hope to students like she has given hope to me. I also want to continue contributing to the pursuit of economical solar harvesting solutions, and be a powerful advocate for sustainable development and STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] education.”

“I’ve been so fortunate to have the opportunity to connect with so many faculty,” he said. “These are the individuals who have dedicated years of their lives to academic pursuits, and to be able to easily engage in direct discourse with professors creates opportunities for a much more profound comprehension of material.  UWEC’s emphasis on undergraduate research has also developed my ability to draw connections between material learned in my courses and their applications to the real world — a skill that will prove absolutely essential as I continue on my academic path at Oxford.”

“Tayo Sanders’ selection for this prestigious honor — in the company of fellow scholars from private institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, MIT and Princeton — is a testament to his outstanding effort as an undergraduate student,” said UW Chancellor James Schmidt. “It also is a testament to the contributions of the many dedicated faculty and staff here at UW-Eau Claire who day after day provide the excellent teaching and the beyond-the-classroom experiences that prepare our students to excel when they go out into the world with their Blugold degree in hand. Tayo is a shining example of the value of a UW-Eau Claire degree.”

The Rhodes Scholarships, averaging about $50,000 per year, cover all costs for two or three years of study at Oxford.  Winners are selected on the basis of high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.