For the third straight year, Northwestern has been named the 12th best university in the country by the most well-known college rankings list.
While its ranking remained the same, NU’s performance in the 2011 U.S. News and World Report university rankings, released Tuesday, showed signs of improvement.
NU occupied the No. 12 position by itself, breaking out of a two-year tie with Washington University in St. Louis. Overall, it scored two points higher than last year on the 100 point scale, putting it just one point shy of three schools, including the Unviersity of Chicago, tied for ninth place.
NU bested all other Big Ten Schools – the University of Michigan came in second at No. 29 – and two Ivy League schools, Brown University and Cornell University.
University spokesman Al Cubbage called the results “very encouraging.”
In separate rankings released by Forbes Magazine earlier this month, NU was named the 18th best college in the country, behind several liberals arts schools but ahead of the University of Chicago.
The U.S. News and World Report rankings are based on 16 “indicators of academic excellence,” including acceptance rate, alumni giving, peer university evaluations and graduation rate performance, which was given increased weight this year.
In addition, for the first time this year, high school guidance counselors’ opinions were factored in the rankings. Cubbage said that might have helped NU.
“Northwestern is generally well-regarded by high school counselors for our undergraduate programs,” he said.
Education experts have disagreed about the value of the annual rankings since they launched in 1983. The debate has intensified in recent years, with some university administrators declining to participate in the rankings due to fear that they are unscientific.
Former NU President Henry Bienen, who retired last year, once said it would be better if the rankings didn’t exist.
Still, the list is regarded as a leading indicator of university performance. Current NU President Morton Schapiro said it’s “pretty clear” that prospective students look at it “pretty seriously.”
But Schapiro said that NU would never do anything to improve its ranking unless it was consistent with other ideas.
“My expectation is that the many investments we have been making in undergraduate education, both inside and outside the classroom, will increase student satisfaction and make us more attractive to prospective students,” Schapiro said. “Will that at the same time improve our rankings? I suspect so.”
Schapiro’s former school, Williams College, earned first place among liberals arts colleges. Harvard University finished first on the national list, barely edging out Princeton University and Yale University.
Watch out for The Daily’s first print issue of the year on Monday, Sept. 20. Until then, the website will be updated periodically with news updates and football coverage.
