U.S. News rankings: What they mean for RIT
The rankings are coming, the rankings are coming!!!
University News is getting ready for the upcoming U.S. News & World Report: America’s Best Colleges rankings. U.S. News is planning to release the rankings on Thursday.
This is always good news for RIT. Since the magazine began ranking colleges in 1983, RIT has consistently been listed among the top regional universities. Last year, RIT ranked sixth overall in the “Best Universities – Master’s (North region)” category, and scored first in peer assessment, which is a survey of presidents, provosts and deans from other universities judging a school’s academic excellence. In the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category, RIT ranked sixth among master’s universities in the North.
RIT scored well in other areas. To view more, see last year’s news release:
So what do these rankings mean? Truth be told, the rankings don’t change all that much from year-to-year. Think about it: Many universities are centuries old. Like one year is going to make a difference!
That said, here comes my favorite PR cliché: image is everything. Certainly, prospective students and their parents use the guide to benchmark schools against one another. RIT’s rankings are a source of pride for students, faculty, staff and alumni. And U.S. News is pretty much the granddaddy of all lists. Other publications include:
• Princeton Review: http://www.princetonreview.com/
• Barron’s: http://online.barrons.com
• Fiske Guide: http://www.fiskeguide.com/
• Forbes: http://www.forbes.com
The U.S. News report is only one list and should be put into context with many other variables when determining the reputation and prestige of any university. Stay tuned this week.
In my next post, I will examine the criteria behind the rankings, how RIT scored and what RIT can do to improve its rankings. Without even seeing the 2006 rankings, I will leave you with this tease: RIT alumni: If you step up in a very simple way, RIT’s rankings will go even higher!!! Stay tuned.
ooh, ooh i know the simple way! During the campaign for RIT, I heard that it's good to give even 5 dollars, because U.S. News looks at the diversity and percentage of people who give, not just the amount given. It would definately bring up our rating. am i giving it away? plus, i got a tiger magnet!
[...] U.S. News rankings: What they mean for RIT is a post from a PR staffer at Rochester Institute of Technology. It’s a valiant attempt to make sense of the whole rankings hubbub and offer some perspective. “The U.S. News report is only one list and should be put into context with many other variables when determining the reputation and prestige of any university.” That’s pretty much our standard line, too. [...]
[...] Bob wrote about the U.S. News & World Report university rankings, which was quoted on the higher ed marketing blog and showed up as a trackback in the comments section on our blog. So I went there to check out who’s writing about us and what they’re saying. [...]