The U.S. News & World Report recently released its list of the nation’s best colleges for 2012. In the rankings, Rice University tied with Vanderbilt University for the 17th best college in the U.S. It was the eighth year in a row that Rice placed 17th in these rankings. In addition to the 17th best ranking, Rice was also ranked 16th for best value colleges and 9th among universities whose students graduate with the least debt. Rice was also tied for 22nd in the list of high school counselors’ top picks.
The rankings for national universities are based on a variety of factors, such as freshman retention and graduation rates. Other considerations include faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, graduation rate performance, and an academic peer assessment survey. Each of these factors is assigned a weight based on the quality of the factors. The colleges are then ranked based on their composite weighted score.
“Rice University is devoted to providing the best education and research experience possible to our students,” Linda Thrane, Vice President for Public Affairs, said. “We do this to enrich the lives and careers of these talented young people, and to create knowledge and discoveries that contribute to our community and our world in countless ways. We’re not doing this for the rankings, but it’s nonetheless gratifying to know that our results and our peers affirm that we’re one of the best universities in the country.”
Alyssa Ramirez, a senior from Burleson, TX, is majoring in Psychology.