2007 marked the first year that colleges nationwide began to take college rankings seriously. Arguing that the rankings do a disservice to prospective students, a group of ranking critics, including several college presidents, urged college presidents nationwide to not cooperate with U.S. News and other publications that compile such data. However, that movement did not affect rankings for this year or subsequent years. This list of rankings focuses solely on college rankings from 2007.

Washington Monthly National University Rankings

Methodology: Washington Monthly ranked national universities according to three main categories they refer to as social mobility, research, and service. Under social mobility, they have scores for % of students receiving Pell Grants, predicted and actual graduation rates based on Pell Grants and SAT scores, and the difference between predicted and actual graduation rates. Under research, they have scores for grant dollars, bachelor’s to PhD rank, and PhDs awarded. Under service, they have scores for each school’s Peace Corps program, ROTC program, and federal work-study funds spent on service. Each metric was weighted equally.

OEDb Online College Rankings 2007

Methodology: OEDb began ranking online colleges this year for the first time. Their only criteria for each listed school was that it was accredited. The rankings, however, demanded more statistics, as each school was rated by its listing in the College Opportunities Online Locator (COOL), which was commissioned by the US Department of Education to help prospective students compare higher education opportunities; the college had to offer more than one undergraduate degree-granting program online; and, the college, if campus-based, must offer at least 50 percent of its undergraduate degree-granting programs online. For each metric, they ranked the colleges from 1 to 21, where 1 is the highest, or best, rank.

The Consus Group 2007

Methodology: The Consus Group used three categories in their methodology to compile its annual college rankings for 2007. Published rankings reflected current and historical ratings by numerous sources, including: U.S. News, Gourman Report, etc. An institution’s aggregate published ranking comprises 50 percent of its overall score. Selectivity measured the quality of schools’ admitted candidates. Selectivity was based upon the percent of applicants admitted, SAT scores, and the percent of admitted applicants in the top ten percent of their high school classes. An institution’s composite selectivity comprises 45 percentof its overall score. Yield reflected the percentage of admitted candidates that matriculate to the admitting university. An institution’s yield comprised five percent of its overall score.

NSSE 2007 Results

Methodology: There often is a gap between how much college faculty think students are studying and what they are actually doing. NSSE combined with FSSE points to steps institutions can take to ensure that student performance and faculty expectations align. This ranking, which explains how students engage with college environments, is built by surveys distributed by NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement). Surveys are random so NSSE can compare all the undergraduate results to the National Norms of all participating NSSE schools. Institutions must pay to participate in this survey.