7 SCAC teams plus Berry to form new conference

Started by Ron Boerger, June 07, 2011, 10:23:52 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Ron Boerger

Just for fun (because rankings can be so random at times), here are the latest Forbes 'Top College' Rankings for the schools in the two conferences.

SAA (mean:  167):
- Berry:   295
- BSC:  211
- Centre:  60
- Hendrix:  118
- Millsaps:  122
- Oglethorpe:  367
- Rhodes:  107
- Sewanee:  59

SCAC (mean:  146):
- Austin:  242
- Centenary:  289
- Colorado:  29
- U of Dallas:  120
- Southwestern:  92
- Trinity:  101

As a side note, neither TLU or Schreiner, who join the SCAC next year, are listed in the Forbes rankings.

scottiedoug

That is a pretty odd ranking scheme, especially when you get down below the first 100.

awadelewis

Quote from: scottiedoug on August 05, 2012, 12:11:26 PM
That is a pretty odd ranking scheme, especially when you get down below the first 100.
Perhaps, but the mesures used to build list look to be pretty solid given their based on student satisfaction, academic success, and post-graduate success.   

The Forbes survey is based on a set of metrics developed by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity whose survey methodology can be found at http://centerforcollegeaffordability.org/uploads/2012_Methodology.pdf

pg04

My biggest qualm with this particular ranking is the significance of reviews on ratemyprofessor.com ... They do explain why they use this, but I still think the high percentage given to that parameter is a little dubious.

scottiedoug

Another concern of mine is this assertion in the explanation:

"For many (if not most) college students, the bottom line of higher education is whether it helps them get a good job after graduation. Other things being equal, students will choose a school that provides them the opportunity to earn the highest possible salary upon graduation."

The relatively high importance of post-graduate salaries, based on this belief, should be no surprise since Forbes is clearly a pro-wealth is good tool, but it does not help schools that attract students who want to be, say, school teachers or for that matter, college professors or social workers....

Ron Boerger

Quote from: pg04 on August 06, 2012, 11:05:22 AM
My biggest qualm with this particular ranking is the significance of reviews on ratemyprofessor.com ... They do explain why they use this, but I still think the high percentage given to that parameter is a little dubious.

Agree, not to mention that for smaller schools, a relatively few students have the potential to skew the rankings in one direction or the other.    The fewer students who rate professors, the less statistically significant the result.  Or, for that matters, schools can try and 'influence' things themselves, indirectly or directly.  17.5% of the ranking is a huge part of the overall number.  Better would be an independent study/survey rather than one where the participants are self-selected, but that would mean Forbes would have to actually do some work ...

awadelewis

The use of RateMyProfessor does make the Forbes survey more of a popularity contest.  A better measure would be the National Survey of Student Engagement (http://nsse.iub.edu/html/about.cfm).