The website Quartz just published a list of the universities that place the highest number of grads at tech firms in Silicon Valley.
“The most coveted jobs are in Silicon Valley, and most selective US universities are members of the Ivy League. So it stands to reason that tech giants like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook would scoop up best and brightest from those bastions of power and privilege.
“Think again. None of the eight Ivy League schools—Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania—cracked the top 10 on a list of the universities sending the most graduates to tech firms, according to an analysis by HiringSolved, an online recruiting company. The company used data from more than 10,000 public profiles for tech workers hired or promoted into new positions in 2016 and the first two months of 2017.”
Editor’s note: The HiringSolve link also lists the 10 specific skills most in demand as of 2017, with changes from 2016. For example, the top four skills for entry level placement in 2017 are Python, C++, Java, and algorithms. The top job titles for entry placement in 2017 are Software Engineering Intern, Software Engineer, Business Development Consultant, and Research Intern.
Now let it be said that the 17 public universities in the top 25 are generally much larger than the private institutions on the list, so the sheer volume of highly-trained tech grads from the publics is much larger.
But the final message from Quartz was this:
“If the list tells us anything, it’s that admission to an elite university isn’t a prerequisite for a career in Silicon Valley, and what you know is more important than where you learn it.” [Emphasis added.]
Here are the top 25 universities for Silicon Valley tech placement, in numerical order:
UC Berkeley
Stanford
Carnegie Mellon
USC
UT Austin
Georgia Tech
Illinois
San Jose State
UC San Diego
Arizona State
Michigan
UCLA
NC State
Cal Poly
Cornell
Waterloo (Canada)
Texas A&M
Washington
Purdue
MIT
Santa Clara
Univ of Phoenix*
UC Santa Barbara
UC Davis
Penn State
*Hypothesis: hands-on experience and later degrees?
The new rankings from Money are out, and public colleges and universities account for 27 of the top 50 best values in 2017. These rankings are likely the best college rankings overall, given their balanced approach.
As Jeffrey J. Selingo writes in the Washington Post, the earnings portion of the rankings are based in part on some very interesting new evidence: the “Chelly data.”
“That refers to Raj Chetty,” Selingo tells us, “a Stanford professor, who has led a team of economists that has received access to millions of anonymous tax records that span generations. The group has published several headline-grabbing studies recently based on the data. In findings published in January, the group tracked students from nearly every college in the country and measured their earnings more than a decade after they left campus, whether they graduated or not.
Money does a better job of ranking colleges based on “outcomes” than Forbes does (see Outcomes farther down). This is especially the case with the multiple earnings analyses.
To see the list of top publics, please skip the methodology discussion immediately below.
The 2017 rankings include 27 factors in three categories:
Quality of education (1/3 weighting), which was calculated using:
Six-year graduation rate (30%).
Value-added graduation rate (30%). “This is the difference between a school’s actual graduation rate and its expected rate, based on the economic and academic profile of the student body (measured by the percentage of attendees receiving Pell grants, which are given to low-income students, and the average standardized test scores of incoming freshmen).” [Emphasis added.]
“Peer quality (10%). This is measured by the standardized test scores of entering freshman (5%), and the percentage of accepted students who enroll in that college, known as the “yield” rate (5%).” Note: using the yield rate is an improvement over the U.S. News rankings.
“Instructor quality (10%). This measured by the student-to-faculty ratio.” Note: this is very similar to a U.S. News metric.
“Financial troubles (20%). This is a new factor added in 2017, as financial difficulties can affect the quality of education, and a growing number of schools are facing funding challenges.” Note: although this is not an “outcome” either, it is more meaningful than using data on alumni contributions, etc.
Affordability (1/3 weighting), which was calculated using:
“Net price of a degree (30%). This is the estimated amount a typical freshman starting in 2017 will pay to earn a degree, taking into account the college’s sticker price; how much the school awards in grants and scholarships; and the average time it takes students to graduate from the school, all as reported to the U.S. Department of Education….This takes into account both the estimated average student debt upon graduation (15%) and average amount borrowed through the parent federal PLUS loan programs (5%).
“Student loan repayment and default risk (15%).
“Value-added student loan repayment measures (15%). These are the school’s performance on the student loan repayment and default measures after adjusting for the economic and academic profile of the student body.
Affordability for low-income students (20%). This is based on federally collected data on the net price that students from families earning $0 to $30,000 pay.
Outcomes(1/3 weighting), which was calculated using:
“Graduates’ earnings (12.5%), as reported by alumni to PayScale.com; early career earnings within five years of graduation (7.5%), and mid-career earnings, which are for those whose education stopped at a Bachelor’s degree and graduated, typically, about 15 years ago. (5%).
“Earnings adjusted by majors (15%). To see whether students at a particular school earn more or less than would be expected given the subjects students choose to study, we adjusted PayScale.com’s data for the mix of majors at each school; for early career earnings (10%) and mid-career earnings (5%).
“College Scorecard 10-year earnings (10%). The earnings of federal financial aid recipients at each college as reported to the IRS 10 years after the student started at the college.
“Estimated market value of alumni’s average job skills (10%). Based on a Brookings Institution methodology, we matched up data provided by LinkedIn of the top 25 skills reported by each school’s alumni with Burning Glass Technologies data on the market value each listed skill.
“Value-added earnings (12.5%). To see if a school is helping launch students to better-paying jobs than competitors that take in students with similar academic and economic backgrounds, we adjusted PayScale.com’s earnings data for the student body’s average test scores and the percentage of low-income students at each school; for early career earnings (7.5%) and mid-career earnings (5%).
Job meaning (5%). We used the average score of each school’s alumni on PayScale.com’s survey question of “Does your work make the world a better place?”
“Socio-economic mobility index (20%).
For the first time, we included new data provided by the Equality of Opportunity Project that reveals the percentage of students each school move from low-income backgrounds to upper-middle class jobs by the time the student is 34 years old.Finally, we used statistical techniques to turn all the data points into a single score and ranked the schools based on those scores.” [Emphasis added.]
The inclusion of these metrics makes the Money rankings a hybrid of the Washington Monthly “public good” rankings, U.S. News, and Kiplinger rankings, with the socio-economic factors having a less significant impact than the Washington Monthly rankings on overall standing. Still, these factors do result in two CUNY campuses’ receiving high rankings.
“The data showed, for example,” Selingo writes, “that the City University of New York propelled almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all eight Ivy League campuses, plus Duke, M.I.T., Stanford and Chicago, combined. The California State University system advanced three times as many.”
TOP PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES, MONEY MAGAZINE, 2017, BY NAME AND OVERALL RANK INCLUDING PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS:
CUNY Baruch College–2
Michigan–3
UC Berkeley–4
UCLA–5
UC Irvine–7
UC Davis–9
Virginia–11
Washington–13
Georgia Tech–16
Florida–18
Maryland–20
Illinois–22
Virginia Tech–23
College of New Jersey–24
UC Riverside–29
Michigan State–30
UT Austin–31
Binghamton–33
Texas A&M–34
UC Santa Barbara–36
Connecticut–37
Purdue–37 (tie)
VMI–41
Cal State Long Beach–42
CUNY Brooklyn–43
UW Madison–45
James Madison–46
Rutgers, New Brunswick–49
NC State–50
Editor’s Note: This is the second post in a new, lengthy series that will highlight ten or more public university honors colleges and programs that are (1) excellent academically and (2) offer substantial merit aid either through the honors program or the university as a whole.
For many readers it will come as no surprise to learn the the University of Alabama and its honors college offers some of the most generous merit aid packages in the country to high-achieving students. Yet our recent visit to UA sites revealed an even larger range of excellent scholarships than we had thought were available.
Before a listing of those awards (see below for national merit, in-state, and OOS), please know that the Honors College, despite being the largest in the nation (possibly as many as 7,000 students), nevertheless earned a 4.5 (out of a possible 5.0) rating in our latest book, Inside Honors.
The major academic strengths of the college are a very large selection of honors classes, including honors sections in most academic disciplines; and an average honors class size of 26.6 students, even counting honors classes in the various departments. Honors students also do most of their honors work in honors-only classes, i.e., in classes that have few or no non-honors students.
Excellent honors residence halls are another strength of the college. The honors residence community includes Blount and Paty Halls, but almost 60% of honors students living on campus reside in Ridgecrest North and South, while another 28% live in Ridgecrest East and West.
“These buildings feature 4-bedroom suites with private bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living/dining area, and a kitchenette. The kitchenette has a full-size refrigerator, microwave, and cabinet space. The bedrooms feature height-adjustable beds with extended twin mattresses.”
Honors students are increasingly successful in winning prestigious Goldwater Scholarships, including the maximum of four allowed to a single college, in 2017. The award goes to outstanding sophomores and juniors who are working in the STEM disciplines. UA students have also won 15 Rhodes Scholarships and 16 Truman Scholarships.
MERIT AID FOR NATIONAL SCHOLARS
National Merit Finalists can receive the value of tuition for up to five years or 10 semesters for degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate (or law) studies. In addition,
–One year of on-campus housing at regular room rate (based on assignment by Housing and Residential Communities.
—A $3,500 per year Merit Scholarship stipend for four years. A student must maintain at least a 3.3 GPA to continue receiving this scholarship stipend. If a corporate-sponsored scholarship from the National Merit Corporation is received, the total value cannot exceed $3,500. (For example, if you receive a corporate-sponsored scholarship of $2,000 per year, UA will contribute $1,500 per year to reach the total stipend amount of $3,500. There is a one-time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study (after completing one year of study at UA).
—Technology Enrichment Allowance $1,000.
National Merit Semifinalists are also eligible for extremely generous aid as Presidential Scholars, amounting to full tuition for four years. The award requires a 32-36 ACT or 1450-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA. Recipients “will receive the value of tuition, or $41,800 over four years ($10,470 per year). Students graduating with remaining tuition scholarship semester(s) may use these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.”
ACADEMIC ELITE SCHOLARSHIPS
To be considered for the Academic Elite Scholarships, a student must be accepted as a member of the University Fellows Experience (UFE). The student must maintain membership in the UFE to continue holding an Academic Elite Scholarship. Complete information on the UFE can be found on the University Fellows website.
There are a total of 8 academic elite scholars named each year. The pool of eligible applicants typically exceeds 1,000 students. These scholarships are awarded for 4 years. Seven Academic Elite Scholarship recipients will receive: Tuition plus one year of on-campus housing at regular room rate, $8,500 stipend per year, and a $1,000 one time technology stipend
The top Academic Elite Scholarship recipient will receive: Tuition, one year of on-campus housing at regular room rate, $8,500 stipend for the first year, $18,500 stipend for years 2-4, $5,000 study abroad stipend (to be used after at least one academic year is completed), a $1,000 one time technology stipend.
Eligibility for the University Fellows Experience requires an ACT score of 32 or a SAT score of 1450 (evidence-based reading and writing plus math) and a high school GPA of 3.8 who is accepted into UA will be eligible to complete the University Fellows Experience application. Applicants must first complete the Honors College application, and then must complete the UFE application. The general UFE application deadline is December 15.
OTHER MERIT AID ESPECIALLY FOR IN-STATE STUDENTS
First time freshmen who meet the December 15 scholarship deadline, have a qualifying score on the ACT or SAT and have at least a 3.5 cumulative high school GPA through the junior year will be eligible for the following merit-based scholarships:
Crimson Achievement Scholar: A student with a 25 ACT or 1200-1230 SAT score and minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Crimson Achievement Scholar and will receive $8,000 over four years ($2,000 per year).
UA Legends: A student with a 26 ACT or 1240-1270 SAT score and minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a UA Legends Scholar and will receive $10,000 over four years ($2,500 per year).
Capstone Scholar: A student with a 27 ACT or 1280-1300 SAT score and minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Capstone Scholar and will receive $16,000 over four years ($4,000 per year).
Collegiate Scholar: A student with a 28-29 ACT or 1310-1380 SAT score and a minimum GPA of 3.5 a student will be named a Collegiate Scholar and will receive $20,000 over four years ($5,000 per year).
Foundation in Excellence Scholar: A student with a 30-31 ACT or 1390-1440 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be named a Foundation in Excellence Scholar and will receive $32,000 over four years ($8,000 per year).
Presidential Scholar: A student with a 32-36 ACT or 1450-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive the value of tuition, or $41,800 over four years ($10,470 per year). Students graduating with remaining tuition scholarship semester(s) may use these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.
MERIT AID ESPECIALLY FOR OUT-OF-STATE STUDENTS
Note:These are the same requirements as those above for in-state students, but the dollar amounts are larger. Please note especially the extremely high value of the Presidential Scholarship for OOS students.
Capstone Scholar: A student with a 27 ACT or 1280-1300 SAT score and a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Capstone Scholar and will receive $20,000 over four years ($5,000 per year).
Collegiate Scholar: A student with a 28 ACT or 1310-1340 SAT score and a minimum GPA of 3.5 will be named a Collegiate Scholar and will receive $24,000 over four years ($6,000 per year).
Foundation in Excellence Scholar: A student with a 29 ACT or 1350-1380 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be named a Foundation in Excellence Scholar and will receive $52,000 over four years ($13,000 per year).
UA Scholar: A student with a 30-32 ACT or 1390-1480 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA, he or she will be named a UA Scholar and will receive $76,000 over four years ($19,000 per year).
Presidential Scholar: A student with a 33-36 ACT or 1490-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive $100,000 over four years ($25,000 per year). Students graduating with remaining scholarship semester(s) may use these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.
Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a new, lengthy series that will highlight ten or more public university honors colleges and programs that are (1) excellent academically and (2) offer substantial merit aid either through the honors program or the university as a whole.
The decentralized approach allows for the program to work with more than 5,000 students, making the program one of the largest in the nation.
Before a discussion of highly competitive merit awards for OSU students, it should be said that the University Honors Program is extremely selective despite its large enrollment. Our estimate of the average new SAT score for current students is 1470-1490, with an average ACT of 32-33. This equates to roughly the top 10% of OSU students.
While the university-wide six-year graduation rate is about 83%, the honors grad rate is about 91-92%. University Honors students can choose from 250-300 courses each term. More than a thousand first-year students enroll each fall. About 60% of first-year students (more than a thousand) choose among three main honors residence halls. Each residence has its own honor-related programming. Two of the residences are air-conditioned. The remainder of first-year honors students reside in other university residence halls, many of which have living/learning themes.
Merit Scholarships
The Honors Program coordinates the Eminence Fellowship, the most lucrative and prestigious award at the university. Eminence Fellows receive a “full ride” to OSU. In 2917, there were 17 fellows, all members of the honors program.
Given the high selectivity of the honors program, it is no surprise to find that fellows typically rank in the top three percent of their graduating classes and have an ACT composite score of 34 or higher or SAT combined Critical Reading and Math score of 1520 or higher.
Yet even impressive stats do not guarantee a fellowship. “Eminence Fellows demonstrate academic achievement, intellectual curiosity, high regard for humanity, and significant involvement both on and off campus.” Measuring factors such as a “high regard for humanity” is difficult, and so is the winnowing of fellowship applicants: more than 1,200 apply and only 17 fellowships were awarded in 2017.
On the other hand, the university awards about 300 Morrill Scholarshipseach year. The scholarships require both strong academic qualifications and characteristics that contribute to the diversity of the university.
Here, diversity means more than a racial or ethnic profile. The “targeted” students include not only ethnic and racial minorities but also first-generation, low-income, and Ohio Appalachian students. In addition, the awards may go to students whose gender is not typical of the major (e.g., women in engineering), or whose major is atypical but desirable (e.g., agriculture). Notably, Agriculture is one of the disciplines that offer many honors courses via the University Honors Program.
It is important to understand the three levels of Morrill awards:
Distinction equals the value of the cost of attendance for both Ohio residents and nonresidents, or a “full ride.” Only about 25 of the 300 Morrill awards are at the Distinction level. One hundred students are invited to interview for the 25 awards. Recipients likely need ACT 33 or new SAT ~1500 along with an extremely high class rank and achievements.
Prominence equals free tuition for out-of-state students.
Excellence: Equals the value of in-state tuition for Ohio residents.
The minimum stats for Prominence or Excellence awards are about 28 ACT or new SAT ~1320.
It is also possible to receive a Maximus Scholarship based mostly on stats and then be considered, usually later, for a Morrill or even Eminence award. The Maximus minimum stats requirement is high (top 3%, 32 ACT or 1450 new SAT) but not related to diversity goals as far as we can tell. The award approximates half the cost of in-state tuition, or about $5,000.
Finally, Provost and Trustees awards are $2,500 and $1,500 a year, respectively. The Provost minimum requirement is top 10%, 30 ACT, or new SAT of 1390. The minimum requirement for Trustees is top 20%, 29 ACT, or new SAT 1350 or higher.
The Kiplinger Best Value College Index 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 the 16th straight year, UNC Chapel Hill leads as the best public value for both in-state and out-of-state (OOS) applicants.
The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic account for 10 of the top 25 best public value schools. West coast universities in the UC system along with the University of Washington account for another half dozen in the top 25.
In the middle, so to speak, are traditionally strong publics including Michigan, UW Madison, Illinois, UT Austin, Minnesota, and Ohio State.
Acceptance rates vary widely among the top value schools, from a low of 15 and 17 percent at UC Berkeley and UCLA respectively, to a high of 66 percent at Illinois.
Other publics with relative low acceptance rates include Michigan (26 percent); Cal Poly (31 percent); Georgia Tech (32 percent); UC Santa Barbara (33 percent); UC San Diego (34 percent); and UC Irvine and UT Austin (39 percent).
Below are the top 25 in-state public values, with the OOS ranking and Acceptance Rate listed as well.
Public university honors colleges and programs continue to raise their profiles as “value” choices in higher education, as evidenced by columns in the New York Times, attention from college consultants, and a separate focus piece in the 2015 U.S. News Best Colleges publication.
Now comes another U.S. News publication, the Path to College Guidebook, available for $.99 to Compass subscribers. Compass subscriptions are currently $29.95. (Note: we have no affiliation with U.S. News.)
One section by Farran Powell, titled “Strategies for Students Too Rich for Financial Aid, Too Poor for College,” is especially interesting. Powell describes the experience of a mother in Illinois whose daughter was accepted by Boston College, where the yearly price tag was extremely high.
“Our daughter got into Boston College at $68,000 a year,” says the mom, citing the total cost of attending without any need-based aid and paying in cash.
But she and her daughter chose UConn’s honors program because they gave her daughter a $15,000 a year scholarship, leaving about $30,000 a year in total yearly costs, much less than regular out-of-state expenses would have been.
“(The University of Connecticut charged out-of-state students $34,908 in tuition and fees along with $12,174 for room and board for the 2015-2016 school year – which is much lower compared with Boston College, which billed students $49,324 for tuition and fees and $13,496 for room and board for that same year, according to U.S. News data.”
“Households similar to [this] family from suburban Chicago are turning to honors programs and schools that hand out non-need-based aid…especially if they are ‘too rich for financial aid’,” Powell writes.
Powell quotes a Houston wealth adviser, who told her that for “our folks…those with income $150,000 or higher or $200,000 plus…it also depends on how many kids you have and other factors.”
“Many parents realize there’s a shortfall in funds available as the cost of college continues to climb,” Powell writes.
“‘Thirty years ago, putting your kid through school was like buying a car. Now it’s like buying a house,'” the adviser told Powell.
Powell writes that “Many National Universities, institutions that offer a full range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral programs, offer these types of programs along with merit aid to attract high-achieving students to their campuses, college experts say.
The same wealth adviser says “his clients are turning down top-tier schools such as Rice University and Southern Methodist University for in-state honors programs at the University of Texas—Austin or Texas A&M University—College Station because it’s better value for the money.”
“People are making their own way in the world,” the suburban mom told Powell, “and I don’t think you need to spend $70,000 a year on college to get ahead.”
After a years-long, bruising battle in Texas between the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems on one side and then-Gov. Rick Perry on the other, the two flagships have emerged more or less intact and relatively free of political meddling.
But that doesn’t mean that the overall fight to maintain quality in public universities is over. Far from it. Now comes news that Missouri and Iowa are joining Wisconsin in considering severe restrictions on faculty tenure, including the elimination of tenure tracks for new faculty hires.
Here are the four main factors involved in this ongoing battle:
Real or exaggerated fiscal problems in the states;
Ideological interference for partisan political purposes;
Attacks by “reforming” governors on the fundamental purposes of public higher education;
Disregarding what is unique about universities, while trying to turn them into business focused on “productivity.”
If far-right politicians in Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin and like-minded officials across the nation succeed, then here is what will happen to public universities:
They will be unable to compete for top faculty, continue to lose quality and prestige, and be relegated to secondary status.
The purported vocational goals of the reformers (more business and STEM grads who can earn higher salaries) will in fact be undercut when public university grads find that their degrees are not regarded as highly as they are now.
Since the Great Recession, most states have struggled to keep abreast of legitimate public needs. In the early years of the recession, states enacted severe cuts in higher education. Often, the most severe cuts occurred in states with very conservative governors who saw an opportunity to leverage the recession into a continuing attack on the liberal arts and a concomitant turn toward vocationalism in higher ed.
But as the economy has rebounded, only some states have slowly begun to increase higher ed funding. Others, such as Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri, are renewing attacks on higher ed.
Here partisanship and ideology enter the picture. For the extreme right, public education should be almost entirely vocational, and “real” education should occur in the more expensive, private colleges, and mainly for those who can afford them. The fixation on private governance even drives these advocates to favor for-profit private “colleges” even though support for these dysfunctional businesses drives up federal loan losses.
Clearly, not funding public higher ed and reducing quality in public colleges is antithetical to the essential purposes of state universities: providing both access and quality to students in their states.
Moves to eliminate tenure are an example of the tone-deafness of some politicians when it comes to the differences between universities and the corporate business world.
The need to fire inept or irresponsible employees in the corporate world is a given. Almost always, such dismissals are unrelated to philosophical and ideological issues or to the expression of differing, even seemingly bizarre opinions.
The firing of a faculty member can come down to objective performance issues; but far more than in the case of firing a business employee, it can also be a punitive act against free expression or the result of a misguided bias against certain academic disciplines.
Of late, those disciplines–the humanities, mainly–are probably the very disciplines that need to be supported in an era of “fake news.” Do humanities and liberal arts majors find more high paying jobs than, say, chemical engineering graduates? No, but do engineering graduates need significant exposure to the humanities? The answer is yes, even if, or especially if, the engineering students disagree with what the humanities offer. At least they are more likely to think about why the disagree.
It must be said, however, that some alleged reformers see no value in having engineers–or any student, for that matter–do much critical thinking beyond that required by their (preferably) vocational major.
Arguments grounded in the need for “productivity” and the general uselessness of academic research have been an abiding feature of far-right attacks on public higher ed.
Yet there is a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research that not only describes the uniqueness of universities as institutions but concludes that they are in fact rational actors in making decisions about faculty pay in relation to both research and teaching loads. They are productive, but productive within the very special context of a university.
The paper does not disagree that sometimes research professors are rewarded more than those who lack a research pedigree. But in the end, “prizing research output over teaching doesn’t necessarily affect educational quality.”
According to an excellent summary of the research by Colleen Flaherty of Inside Higher Ed, “the paper seems to dispute assertions that higher education spending — at least on instruction — is wasteful or inefficient.”
The authors note that “Departments in research universities (the more so the more elite) must pay high salaries in order to employ research-productive faculty. These faculty, in turn, contribute most to the universities’ goals (which include teaching as well as research) by following their comparative advantage and teaching less, and also teaching in ways that are complementary with research — notably graduate courses.”
And one of those goals is to maintain or enhance academic credibility. Flaherty writes that the “authors predict that because ‘scholarly reputation and output’ at research-intensive institutions are shaped by largely by research, highly paid faculty members within a department ‘do relatively little teaching, on average.’ And whatever teaching they do ‘has relatively high consumption value, either directly or as an input into research.’”
There are some interesting features, and the rankings are certainly worth a look.
The rankings combine national universities and liberal arts colleges into one group, and in this way resemble the Forbes rankings. And, also like the Forbes rankings, the salaries earned by graduates also count as a metric, 12% of the total in the WSJ/THE rankings.
Farther down, we will list the top 100 colleges in the rankings. Only 20 of the top 100 schools are public; 31 are liberal arts colleges; and the remaining 49 are elite private universities. This is not much of a surprise, given that financial resources are a major ranking category.
Before listing the top 100, we will list another group of schools that have the best combined scores in what we consider to be the two most important umbrella categories in the rankings, accounting for 60% of the total: “Engagement” and “Output.”
Engagement (20% of total, as broken out below):
A. Student engagement: 7%. This metric is generated from the average scores per College from four questions on the student survey:
To what extent does the teaching at your university or college support CRITICAL THINKING?
To what extent did the classes you took in your college or university so far CHALLENGE YOU?
To what extent does the teaching at your university or college support REFLECTION UPON, OR MAKING CONNECTIONS AMONG, things you have learned?
To what extent does the teaching at your university or college support APPLYING YOUR LEARNING to the real world?
B. Student recommendation: 6%. This metric is generated from the average score per College from the following question on the student survey:
If a friend or family member were considering going to university, based on your experience, how likely or unlikely are you to RECOMMEND your college or university to them?
C. Interactions with teachers and faculty: 4%. This metric is generated from the average scores per College from two questions on the student survey:
To what extent do you have the opportunity to INTERACT WITH THE FACULTY and teachers at your college or university as part of your learning experience?
To what extent does your college or university provide opportunities for COLLABORATIVE LEARNING?
D. Number of accredited programs (by CIP code): 3%. This metric is IPEDS standardized number of Bachelor’s degree programs offered.
Output (40% of the total, as broken out below):
A. Graduation rate: 11%. This metric is 150% of the graduation rate status as of 31 August 2014 for the cohort of full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates, Bachelor’s or equivalent sub-cohort.
B. Graduate salary: 12%. This metric estimates the outcome of median earnings of students working and not enrolled 10 years after entry.
C. Loan default/repayment rates: 7%. This metric estimates the outcome of the 3-year repayment rate from College Scorecard data. The value added component is the difference between actual and predicted (based on underlying student and College characteristics) outcomes.
D. Reputation: 10%. This metric is the number of votes obtained from the reputation survey, and is calculated as the number of US teaching votes from the reputation survey and the number of US-only teaching votes from country section of the reputation survey.
The two remaining umbrella categories measure FinancialResources, including the amount spent per student; and the Environment, including the diversity of enrolled students (or faculty) across various ethnic groups. You can find a summary of the methodology here.
Here are the 23 colleges that scored at least 17.0 (out of 20) in Engagementand at least 30.0 (out of 40.0) in Output, listed in order of their overall place in the WSJ/TimesHigherEd rankings:
Note: This post has now been updated on October 7, 2019, to include the most recent data from the 130 public and private universities listed below. Merit scholarships are fewer than ever, and the awards are generally smaller, though some are still generous. In fact, an increasing number of colleges are offering only minimal National Merit Scholarships, if any. Most “merit” scholarships that remain are not linked specifically to National Merit, although finalists do of course make strong candidates for almost any merit awards.
Most universities now refer to their most valuable merit awards as “distinguished” or “academic” or “presidential” scholarships, avoiding the specific mention of National Merit status. NMS has become somewhat controversial, as has merit aid in general, because many advocates for more equity in higher ed believe merit money should be allocated for need-based aid.
In most cases this does not mean that National Merit Finalists and Semifinalists have a lesser shot at the scholarships, although a few schools now emphasize high test scores more than they do NMS standing. One reason could be that some states have relatively low NMS/PSAT cutoff scores. Students from these states might have, for example, an SAT confirming score of 1420 or so, versus an SAT confirming score of around 1550 for students from states with higher PSAT cutoff scores. It appears that in place of NMS status specifically, an SAT score of 1550 (ACT 35) or higher is now more important that NMS status for selective institutions and programs.
Many of the scholarships offered by the public and private institutions listed below are NOT restricted to National Merit Scholars. We include them to show “full ride” and other high-value options. If you find an error below, please notify editor@publicuniversityhonors.com.
The colleges below in bold are those that still specify National Merit status for at least some of their major awards. These offer National Merit aid of $1,000 a year or more. Although automatic scholarships specifically tied to National Merit status are in decline, National Merit Finalists will almost always be among the top candidates for merit awards.
Many elite colleges and universities offer few or no merit awards of any kind now, because they believe that they need to allocate their funds only on the basis of financial need.
Another post on this site lists the colleges that offer the prestigious Stamps Scholarships.
These range from tuition to full ride, and in some cases, these are the only merit scholarships offered by the college.
And here is a list published by U.S. News that shows colleges with highest percentage of merit aid, based on enrollment. This map does not assess actual net remaining costs after merit aid, however.
In this post, we will provide a table that shows 130 universities, public and private, which provide full or partial tuition, tuition “plus”, or full ride, and full ride merit scholarships. In most cases, the tuition is at least at the in-state level. Tuition “plus” means that the extra award can include stipends or one or more years of housing. Full ride is tuition, room, board, and often additional funds for study abroad, conferences, and other activities.
The more prestigious the university, the more likely it is that the test score and GPA requirements will at least match stats for National Merit Finalists, even if the scholarship is not tied directly to National Merit awards. It is noteworthy that universities previously known for “full rides” have lowered the merit offerings, often to a level below that of a true full ride, especially for National Merit Scholars.
Note: Merit scholarships are constantly changing; the list below is at best a snapshot for 2019-2020.
It is important to know that some of the universities listed offer VERY FEW scholarships of the type listed. For example, the Jefferson Scholarships at the University of Virginia are valued at $150,000 (in-state) and $280,000 (OOS), but only 36 extremely fortunate students are selected from more than 2,000 candidates. These students must be nominated by participating high schools in different regions of the nation.
Again, colleges that continue to offer National Merit-specific scholarships that are greater than $1,000 per year are in bold.
University
Award Type
InState/OOS
Alabama
full ride 5 yrs, 4 yrs housing+stipend, finalist
Both
Appalachian St
Chancellors schols
Both
Arizona
tuition plus, stackable
Both
Arizona State
tuition plus, stackable
Both
Arkansas
equiv full? New Arkansan+Chancellor’s
Both
Auburn
up to full tuition with high test scores, gpa
Both
Baylor
NMS finalist, faculty schol full tuition; gold schols $80k+
Both
Boston College
tuition Presidential Schols only 15/yr
Both
Boston University
tuition Trustee Schols 20 per yr
Both
Case Western
Wolf scholars, full ride; Squire, Treuhaft tuition
Both
Centre
full ride plus, Brown Fellows; several at $20k+
Both
Chicago
$5k to $10k/yr
Both
Cincinnati
full ride Cincinnatus; Presidential NMS $44k
In State
Clark
full ride, five LEEP/yr; others up to $20k/yr
Both
Clemson
full ride 12 National Schols, via honors college
Both
Colorado College
limited number $2500 to $5000/ semester
Both
Connecticut
Stamps full ride very few; nutmeg full tuition?
In State
Cooper Union
half tuition ($22,275/yr) for all enrolled
Both
Davidson
full ride Belk Scholarship
Both
Delaware
trustee scholars, $15k–$17k per year
Both
Denison
from $5k to full tuition
Both
Drake
full ride, six national alumni scholarships
Both
Drexel
up to tuition, Drexel Merit
Both
Duke
several full ride: BN & AB Duke, Robertson, etc.
Both
Emory
Woodruff schols full ride, others partial
Both
Florida
full ride Benacquisto
Both
Florida St
full ride Benacquisto
Both
Fordham
presidential full ride plus $5k/yr
Both
Furman
James Duke schol, tuition plus $5k in stipends
Both
Georgia
Foundation fellows, full, no engineering
Both
Georgia State
Presidential 22k/yr in st; 31k/yr OOS
Both
Georgia Tech
Stamps full ride top 1% Gtech; no NMS spons
Both
Harvey Mudd
tuition 8 presidential schols
Both
Holy Cross
a few tuition grants for specific majors
Both
Houston
NM finalist full tuition; stackable Tier One, Terry
Both
Idaho
full ride
Both
Illinois
Stamps full ride + $12k very few
In State
Indiana
$2k/yr plus Dean’s up to $11k/yr?
Both
Iowa
NM finalist $3k/yr plus others up to $8500/yr
Both
Iowa State
full tuition
In State
Kansas
$10k year; KU Excellence $16.2k/yr OOS
In State
Kent St
$1k to $3k
Both
Kentucky
Singletary, Patterson tuition + housing stipend, might be stackable with others
Both
Kenyon
multiple half and full tuition; others at $25k/yr
Both
Lehigh
NMF $1k-$2k; Founders, Trustee full/half tuition
Both
Louisville
NMF $20k; Brown scholars (10) tuition plus
Both?
Loyala Chicago
$17k to $25k/yr
Both
LSU
Stamps 10/yr full ride plus; also others $9k/yr
Both
Maine
NM semifinalist tuition plus
Both
Maryland
full ride Banneker/Key 150 per year
Both
Massachusetts
tuition credits plus, Chancellor’s, Dean’s etc.
Mostly OOS
Miami Univ
NMS $1-2k; others half/full tuition acc to sat/act
Both
Michigan St
“Distinguished” schols award then tuition and/or full ride
Both
Michigan
up to $20k per year; a few Stamps, full ride
Both
Michigan Tech
Leading Scholar award, in-state full ride, OOS tuition
Both
Minnesota
Gold Scholarships 10k year + $1k NM finalist
Both
Minnesota Morris
NM finalists, full tuition; plus others up to $4k/yr
Both
Mississippi
appears to approach full ride
Both
Mississippi St
full ride presidential SAT 1450+ or maybe lower
Both
Nebraska
tuition Regents ACT 32+
Both
Nevada Las Vegas
NM finalist $10k/yr plus $5k study abroad
Both
Nevada Reno
NM finalist $16k/yr plus others stackable
Both
New Hampshire
$5k-$10k
Both
New Mexico
NM finalist In state tuition & housing, OOS $36k
Both
New Mexico St
tuition & fees + $5k stipend + one yr housing
Both
NJIT
tuition plus, must be in honors college
Both
North Carolina
full ride few Robertson Scholars
Both
NC Charlotte
Levine full ride, 20 per year
Both
North Carolina St
full ride Park Scholars mostly in state or region
In Region
Northeastern
NM finalists =”competitive” award, $25-$30k???
Both
Notre Dame
Stamps full ride; a few others at $25k/yr
Both
Ohio St
54k to full ride (for Eminence Fellows) 25/yr
Both
Ohio Univ
Cutler scholarship = $92k across 4 years
Both
Oklahoma St
NM finalists full ride OOS $145k
Both
Oklahoma
1560 SAT =full ride; NM finalist only= 80% total cost in state, but stackable options too
Both
Oregon
NM finalist $2k/yr; Stamps full ride, 10; presidential = $9k yr
Both
Oregon St
$40k total presidential scholarship
Both
Pitt
full ride Chancellor’s Scholarship, 10-12 yr
Both
Purdue
Beering and Stamps full ride+, few; trustees $10k or $12-$16k OOS
Both
Rhodes
several from $22k to $35k
Both
Rice
tuition for income $65-$130; half tuition for income < $200k
Both
Richmond
up to $2k NM only; 5k to full ride for Richmond Scholars
Both
RIT
$2k plus $20k per year nms finalists
Both
Rose-Hulman
Class of 1940 schol half of total cost
Both
Rochester
2k to full tuition Dean’s Scholarships
Both
RPI
Rensselaer medal $25k/yr math & science
Both
Rutgers
$1k NM only; $3500 to $28k other awards
Both
Santa Clara
Johnson schols (5) full ride; presidential full tuition
Both
SMU
NMF only $5k; full tuition and fees presidential
Both
South Carolina
Top Scholars (40) $127k to $176k OOS), avg SAT 1552
Both
Southern Illinois
full ride Chancellor’s
Both
Southern Miss
NMF full ride; NMSF tuition
Both
Stevens Inst Tech
tuition Neupauer, Stevens
Both
St. Louis Univ
NMF only $2k; tuition Presidential; others $8-$23k
Both
Swarthmore
McCabe Schols tuition minimum; up to full cost dep on need
Both
Syracuse
1870 schol =tuition; Coronat tuition plus lib arts
Both
TCU
NMF $2k/yr; tuition Chancellors 1500/34 tests
Both
Temple
$3k to full tuition for President’s scholars
Both
Texas A&M
$33k minimum total; also Brown Schols full ride
Both
Texas St
10 k/year NMF
Both
Texas Tech
NM finalist full ride
Both
Trinity San Antonio
tuition, 20 awarded, Trinity Tower; also Murchision $26k/yr
Both
Truman St
full ride 12 Pershing Scholarships + $4k
Both
Tulane
tuition plus, Dean’s Honor, Paul Tulane, 5 Stamps full ride
Both
Tulsa
tuition Presidential, about 65 per year
Both
UCF
full ride Benacquisto
Both
USF
full ride Benacquisto
Both
UCLA
Regents Scholars $2k/year; 150 for all UC Campuses
Both
UC Berkeley
Regents Scholars $2k/year; 150 for all UC Campuses
The most prestigious scholarship–a rare “full ride”–at the University of Texas at Austin is the Forty Acres award. Only 15-20 of these scholarships are granted in any given year. One notable fact about the scholarships is that more than half are awarded to Plan II Honors and/or Business Honors Students. One of the most common majors of Forty Acres Scholars is the combined Plan II/Business Honors major.
Bear in mind that Plan II only has about 700 students out of 39,000 undergrads on the UT Campus, which was originally assigned to, yes, forty acres of land in Austin. About three quarters of all Forty Acres Scholars are in some kind of honors program, with Plan II predominating. Others are engineering honors and the Turing Scholars program for computer science.
Both Plan II and Business Honors are highly selective. In this post on UT’s Business Honors Program, we wrote that by “’highly qualified’ we mean enrolled students with an average ACT of 33, and SAT of 1477 (higher than the 1466 average for the Wharton School at Penn), and an average high school class standing in the top 2.27%.”
For Plan II, the admissions statistics show that enrolled students had middle 50 percent SAT scores of 2090–2270 and middle ACT scores of 32–34.
It is likely that many Forty Acres Scholars have even more impressive credentials. The most recent group of scholars with Plan II, Business Honors, or both majors is below:
Susie and John L. Adams Forty Acres Scholarship Henry Boehm
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Waco, TX
High School: Vanguard College Preparatory School
Ray and Denise Nixon Forty Acres Scholarship Michael Everett
Major: Business Honors
Honors Program: Business Honors
Hometown: Southlake, TX
High School: Carroll Senior High School
BHP Forty Acres Scholarship
Chevron Enrichment Award Alejandra Flores
Major: Business Honors
Honors Program: Business Honors
Hometown: Laredo, TX
High School: United South High School
Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Forty Acres Scholarship Chandler Groves
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Southlake, TX
High School: Carroll Senior High School
Elizabeth Shatto Massey Forty Acres Scholarship Mandy Justiz
Majors: Biochemistry; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Dean’s Scholars; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Austin, TX
High School: St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
Barbara and Alan Dreeben Forty Acres Scholarship Seth Krasne
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: El Paso, TX
High School: Coronado High School
Charline and Red McCombs Family Forty Acres Scholarship Alex Rabinovich
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: McAllen, TX
High School: McAllen Memorial High School
Lowell Lebermann Scholarship Francesca Reece
Majors: Government; Plan II Honors
Honors Program: Plan II Honors
Hometown: Euless, TX
High School: Trinity High School
Madison Charitable Foundation Forty Acres Scholarship Audrey Urbis
Majors: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Honors Programs: Business Honors; Plan II Honors
Hometown: Brownsville, TX
High School: Los Fresnos High School
