<p>The latest rankings of PhD programs per US News and World Report.</p>
<p>I list PhD programs and maybe other graduate programs because this is where the real talent and worth is at a university. The professors in such programs are generally senior, tenured faculty and have a lot to say and do concerning the academic programs and funding at the school. Further, grad students working under this senior staff will frequently be the instructors (or Teaching Assistants) for certain undergraduate classes. These grad students generally get their marching orders from the senior staff. To be a grad student, they have to have at least a BS degree in the field of study at hand and pass the GRE or GMAT exam with a fairly high score. They are no slouches in the brains or academic area, to say the least. </p>
<p>Now, about the ratings - for the typical layman (or undergraduate) there is no perceptible difference between a Physics program, for example, rated 5 in the US compared to one rated 105. The layman would not be able to explain why one program is better than the other and would generally begin to comprehend the differences only as a senior majoring in Physics. </p>
<p>This is one reason why ratings services are faulty - especially when consumed by the general public. To the layman, a Physics program Not Rated (NR) is so far above their (layman) level of comprehension it's not worth discussing or comparing. Any instructor with a BS in Physics, much less a PhD, from a major state university is one highly talented and skilled person. A rating of NR does not, therefore, mean the school is terrible in that area - at all. A lot goes into ratings, and a good bit is subjective or political in nature.</p>
<p>The HALO Effect - a school can have a Halo Effect (like an angel's halo) where because the school is liked for a certain reason(s) which influences the political part of ratings in a positive direction, even when the program does not deserve the positive rating. A school can also have an Inverse Halo Effect, where the program(s) get rated down, because of a negative attitude towards the school, which is generally undeserved and political in nature. In short, academia can be very rough and unfair.</p>
<p>This does not mean, however, that an undergraduate will receive a poor education, by comparison with the other school. Much, probably most, depends on individual work effort and attitude.</p>