How do they rate colleges on different tiers?

[GoingUp]

Different universities are are different tier levels with tier 1 being the highest.

does anyone know how they rate the schools? what are the criteria for each tier?

 

[PoPPeR]

I didn't read any of this, but hopefully you find your answer somewhere. I know USNews ranks schools by tiers, and I subscribe to their undergraduate online catalog thing.

In brief, how does U.S. News rank colleges?
To rank colleges, U.S. News first places each school into categories based on mission (research university or liberal arts college) and, for universities offering a range of master's programs and colleges focusing on undergraduate education without a particular emphasis on the liberal arts, by location (North, South, Midwest, and West). Universities where there is a focus on research and which offer several doctoral programs are ranked separately from liberal arts colleges, and master's universities and comprehensive colleges are compared against other schools in the same group and region. Second, we gather data from and about each school in 15 areas related to academic excellence. Each indicator is assigned a weight (expressed as a percentage) based on our judgments about which measures of quality matter most. Third, the colleges are ranked based on their composite weighted score. We publish the numeric rank of roughly the top half of schools in each of the 10 categories; the remainder are placed in tiers based on their overall score in their category.

 

[callmesteve]

I think I heard somewhere that they rate a school's tier by the number of students that apply each year, to the failing percentage. Some ratio between those two numbers.

Once again, not 100% sure on this one.

 

[PoPPeR]

and for tiers

What are tiers, and why are some schools listed in tiers and not number ranked?
In order to focus on the best schools, U.S. News publishes the numbered rank of approximately the top 50 percent of schools in all the categories. The remaining schools are placed in tiers or broad groups, based on their overall score in their category, (the third and fourth tiers) and listed alphabetically.

 

[mercanucaribe]

They go by how much degrees from those schools are valued by employers and quality of education.

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
They go by how much degrees from those schools are valued by employers and quality of education.

I know but I am looking for better info on what makes up the different tiers.

EG. What stats do you need for a tier 1 vs a tier 4 etc.

 

[GoingUp]

bump

 

[dullard]

Answers here.

[*] 25%: how others think the school performs. Of course this is biased (they rate their own school high). And of course this has little useful information (if you didn't attend, how would you really know). But, employeers also used biased inaccurate personal opinons to hire employees, so it is just the world we live in.
[*]16% or 20%: What proportion of students graduate in 6 years.
[*]10%: Spending per student.
[*]7.5%: SAT/ACT/etc scores.
[*]7%: Faculty salary.
[*]6%: Percent of classes with fewer than 20 students.
[*]6%: Proportion of freshmen/beginning students who were at/near top of their class
[*]5%: Alumni donations.
[*]4% or 5%: What proportion of freshmen/beginning students stay for a second year.
[*]0% or 5%: How well the predicted 6 year graduation rate compares to acutal graduation rate.
[*]3%: Faculty's degrees (BS, masters, or Phd).
[*]2%: Percent of classes with more than 50 students.
[*]1.5%: Proportion of students who were rejected. State schools with the goal to admit everyone are hurt here.
[*]1%: Student-faculty ratio.
[*]1%: Proportion of faculty that is full time.

My summary:
25% opinion, 35% money, 15% initial student quality, 25% graduation rates, 0% student success after attending.