<p>America's</a> Top Colleges - Forbes</p>
<p>Army #7
ND #12
BC #26
Gtown #38
HC #41
Navy #43
Colgate #48
Lafayette #49
Bucknell #56
Lehigh #108.
AU #123</p>
<p>You will have to read the methodology to see how they determined the rankings.</p>
<p>Army and boston college are better than georgetown? If i recall forbes rankings go less of academics and more on like financial aid availability, right? I think that’s why most of the military academies, which have great aid, rank in like the top fifteen on forbes’ list.</p>
<p>HC was at 27 last year. I never understand Forbes… or most ranking systems for that matter.</p>
<p>Glad that i chose Holy Cross over Bucknell and Richmond</p>
<p>Forbes is probably the least quoted and least credible ranking of colleges. If you go to their website, they make it very clear that the main, over-riding criteria they use is AFFORDABILITY, or how affordable the school is in relation to other factors. Academics takes a much lessor role in this methodology and year after year it is hard to understand how academic tier 2 and 3 schools can be ranked over tier 1 schools. The Ivies are high because the Ivies dole out lots of $ to anyone who is accepted but whose family makes less than $100K/yr. The service academies are essentially free so would rank very high.</p>
<p>knight 2011 is correct in his recollection.</p>
<p>Wrong again,</p>
<p>From the Forbes site:</p>
<p>The rankings are based on five general categories: post graduate success (32.5%), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence, student satisfaction (27.5%), which includes professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore year retention rates, debt (17.5%), which penalizes schools for high student debt loads and default rates, four-year graduation rate (11.25%) and competitive awards (11.25%). </p>
<p>Only 17.5% has anything to do with affordability despite your rounding it up to 100% </p>
<p>If it was based only on affordability the US Naval Academy which is free would rank higher than Holy Cross. Holy Cross is ranked higher that the US Naval Academy on Forbes Rankings.</p>
<p>On Forbes Best Liberal Arts colleges for 2012, Holy Cross ranked #20. Great Work !!!</p>
<p>There is so much wrong with the criteria Forbes uses that I am not going to repeat them here. If anyone is interested, you can go to the CC-Villanova site and look at the last bunch of postings on the Fordham vs. Villanova thread that discussed this topic.</p>
<p>Or, continue to quote them if it supports your point of view. Please be advised that serious college admissions people dismiss the Forbes rankings. Stick with USN&WR.</p>
<p>This is from the Wikipedia page on College Rankings and I think sums up Forbes pretty well;</p>
<p>“Forbes College rankings
In 2008, Forbes.com began publishing an annual list, prepared by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity[106] of “America’s Best Colleges”.[107] The Forbes rankings use the list of alumni published in Who’s Who in America, student evaluations from RateMyProfessors.com, self-reported salaries of alumni from PayScale, four-year graduation rates, numbers of students and faculty receiving “nationally competitive awards,” and four-year accumulated student debt to calculate the rankings.[108] The list emphasizes tuition costs, which boosts the ratings of the zero-cost United States Service academies. It disregards subjective measures such as public reputation, which causes some Ivy League colleges to score lower than in other lists.”</p>
<p>Note : “The list EMPHASIZES tuition costs, which boosts the ratings of the zero-cost United States Service academies.” Also “…four-year accumulated student debt to calculate the rankings”. As tution and student debt are key factors in affordability, it looks like I am not wrong after all, 1980.</p>
<p>Forbes is a joke. If you want to quote it 1980, be my guest.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is ranked #29 best National Liberal Arts college by US News and #20 Best National Liberal Arts college by Forbes. Top tier on both lists so take your pick.</p>
<p>If you are a Ram from Fordham which was ranked #203 you would also want to try to do everything you can to invalidate the Forbes ranking.</p>
<p>Fordham could be #503; doesn’t change the fact Forbes is a joke. Many facts have been presented on this and other threads to show that it is. Many others agree Forbes cannot be taken seriously. The only reason you want it to be viable is that CHC scores well on it. Congrats. CHC is a fine school and you don’t need the highly flawed Forbes to validate that.</p>
<p>If you want to quote it required details, be my guest.</p>
<p>Ram, so if you don’t find Forbes helpful use US News where again Holy Cross is listed as a top school #29 National Liberal Arts colleges and tied with Bucknell and Mount Holyoke</p>
<p>Ram, I can’t understand your motivation? But please keep talking.</p>
<p>digger:</p>
<p>If you read all that I have posted, I have said often that the best and most reliable ranking is US News and World Report, so yes, I agree with you.</p>
<p>cecilturtle:</p>
<p>The only motivation is for folks to be informed consumers: that I and many others who council students and parents see that of all the Rankings, Forbes is just very flawed and there are far better ratings to use as a guide so when possible, we point out some of the major flaws in Forbes. There has been much written on these and other threads about Forbes and I invite you to read them and come to your own conclusions. As I have said, CHC is a fine school and you don’t need the highly flawed Forbes rankings to validate that.</p>
<p>I was unaware that you “council” students and parents.</p>
<p>Thank you RR; I agree with your assessment of the Forbes rankings. Are you a grad of CHC?</p>
<p>As telling in my name, I am a Fordham undergraduate. My nephew went to Holy Cross some years ago so have been on the Hill a few times and have a high regard for CHC. Grandfather went to Georgetown law and I have family who attended other Jesuit schools such as BC and Fairfield.</p>
<p>I often steer kids to CHC who are very bright and want a small, tight community and a fine education over larger schools. I support Jesuit schools, even if not in the “Catholic Ivy League” as there is a school to meet every level of student. For some 25 years I volunteer for my local Bd. of Ed in helping to set up and run college nights at high schools, so have assisted in counseling kids+parents along side school counselors.</p>
<p>As such I have some background in my reasons for not favoring Forbes.</p>