How does UF become a top 10 State School- Sorted 2008 USNWR Data

xNYer · August 26, 2008, 6:24pm

The following data is from the USNWR 2008 edition:

ASSUMPTION: To be ranked top 10 you must beat all the universities ranked 11 thru 16 as well as ONE of the three Universities tied for 10th.

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School/ Overall Score 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 62 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 62 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 62 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 59 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 59 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 58 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 58 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 58 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 57

49/ 17 UF/ 56/ RANKED 17th

FACT: UF is ranked #17 with 56 points ONE POINT behind PSU who has 57 points in overall score.
UC Irvine, UC-SB and UT- Austin are within TWO POINTS of UF's Overall Score.

The following information represents the seven (7) MAJOR CATEGORIES that comprise the USNWR rankings. I am listing them from "most" points to "least" points.
The MAJOR categories include: Peer Assesment @ 25%, Graduation and Retention rank @ 20%, Faculty Resources @ 20%, Selectivity @ 15%, Financial Resources rank @ 10%, Graduation Rate Performance @ 5%,and Alumni Giving rate @ 5%.

NOTE: There are SUB - Categories to these Main Categories breaking down the percentages further.
I will provide this info in separate individual threads.
I have also included a "delta" column indicating the separation between UF and it's competition.

<pre><code> 1- Peer Assesment - VALUE 25%
</code></pre>

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School/ Delta 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 4.1/ -0.5 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 4.1/ -0.5 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 4.0/ -0.4 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 3.9/ -0.3 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 3.8/ -0.2 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 3.8/ -0.2 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 3.8/ -0.2 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 3.6/ 0

49/ 17/ UF/ 3.6/ same/ RANKED 16th

44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 3.5/ 0.1

<pre><code> 2- Graduation & Retention Rank- VALUE 20%

</code></pre>

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School / Delta 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 32/ -12
48/ 16/ PSU/ 35/ -9 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 37/ -7 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 40/ -4 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 40/ -4

49/ 17/ UF/ 44/ same/ RANKED 13th

38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 49/ 5 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB /49/ 5 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 59/ 15 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 61/ 17

<pre><code> 3- Faculty Resources- VALUE 20%
</code></pre>

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School/ Delta 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 32/ -91
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 55/ -68
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 74/ -49
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 74/ -49
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 95/ -28
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 110/ -13
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 110/ -13
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 116/ -7

49/ 17/ UF/ 123/ same/ 16th

48/ 16/ PSU/ 165/ 42

<pre><code> 4- Selectivity Rank - VALUE 15%
</code></pre>

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School / Delta 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 31/ -13
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 36/ -8 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 38/ -6 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 42/ -2 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 44/ 0

49/ 17/ UF/ 44/ same/ RANKED 12th tied

44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 48/ 4 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 51/ 3 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 52/ 8 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 93/ 49

<pre><code> 5- Financial Resources Rank- VALUE 10%

</code></pre>

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School/ Delta 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 28/ -12
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 29/ -11
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 31/ -9

49/ 17/ UF/ 40/ same/ RANKED 11th

38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 47/ 7 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 53/ 6 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 59/ 19/
48/ 16/ PSU/ 59/ 19 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 96/ 56 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 96/ 56

<pre><code> 6- Graduation Rate Performance- VALUE 5%
</code></pre>

Overall rank/ State Rank/ School/ Grad Rate Predicted/Grad Rate Actual/Over-Under Perf.

48/ 16/ PSU/ 63%/ 85%/ plus 22
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 76%/ 82%/ plus 6
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 69%/ 75%/ plus 6
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 73%/ 77%/ plus 4
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 81%/ 84%/ plus 3
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 77%/ 79%/ plus 2

49/ 17/ UF/ 77%/ 79%/ plus 2/ RANKED 13th tied

42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 80%/ 81%/ plus 1
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 86%/ 86%/ none
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 79%/ 79%/ none

<pre><code> 7- Alumni Giving Rank- VALUE 5%

</code></pre>

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School/ Delta 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 53/ -30
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 83/ 0

49/ 17/ UF/ 83/ same/ RANKED 9th tied

44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 89/ 6 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 109/ 26 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 117/ 34 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 117/ 34 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 135/ 52 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 149/ 66 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 182/ 99

OK folks, these are the FACTS that UF is being scored against.

Not very usefull yet until I put in the subcategories where you REALLY start to see UF's shortcommings.

xNYer · August 27, 2008, 12:36pm

OK, here we go;

<hr>

I have re-sorted the fifteen (15) USNWR ranking criteria from the highest value subcategories (Peer review @ 25%) down to (% of full time faculty @ 1%)

There seems to be a lot misinformation about how important certain subsections really are.

USNWR SCORING CRITERIA Subsections:
1- Peer Assessment / 25%
2- 6 yr graduation rate / 16%
3- Per student spending / 10%
4- SAT / ACT scores / 8%
5- Faculty Salary / 7%
6- Classes fewer than 20 / 6%
7-Top 10% students / 6%
8- Actual vs. Predicted graduation / 5%
9- % of alumni who contributed / 5%
10- freshman retention rate / 4%
11- Professors with highest degree / 3%
12- Classes of more than 50 / 2%
13- Acceptance rate / 2%
14- Student Faculty ratio / 1%
15- Percent of full time faculty / 1%

Grand Total Points 100%

I will be presenting all these 15 sub-categories in terms of how UF stands vs. the universities in front of it on the top 10 list.

xNYer · August 27, 2008, 1:05pm

Improving UF’s 2008 Peer Assessment

<pre><code> Peer Assessment- VALUE 25%
</code></pre>

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School / delta 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 4.1/ -0.5 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 4.1/ -0.5 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 4.0/ -0.4 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 3.9/ -0.3 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 3.8/ -0.2 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 3.8/ -0.2 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 3.8/ -0.2 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 3.6/ 0 
49/ 17/ UF/ 3.6/ same/ RANKED 16th
44/ 13t/ UC- SB 3.5/ 0.1

PEER ASSESMENT CONCLUSION:
UF IS TIED FOR #16 WITH UC IRVINE. ONLY UCSB IS RANKED LOWER AT #17 WITH A 3.5

FACT: UC San Diego was ranked top 10 with a peer score of 3.8.
UC- Davis and PSU are also ranked 3.8.
For a category that is worth 25% of the total USNWR rankings UF has A LOT OF WORK TO DO HERE with only a 3.6.
They need to improve .2 points to match UC- Davis, UC- SD and PSU.

From what I have read the changes in USNWR WILL NOT make much change to this category.
LINK: [‘U.S</a>. News’ Adds Surveys That Could Alter Methodology :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education’s Source for News, Views and Jobs](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/09/usnews]'U.S”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/09/usnews)

<hr>

Others have bashed UF’s 3.6 PR score. That score does handicap UF in moving up in the USNWR rankings since it’s worth 25% of their total score.

Found this interesting article done in 2005 by a professor at Emory. Others on CC seem to agree with his conclusions that Peer Assessment is linked to Graduate School Assessment.

LINK: [The</a> Academic Exchange](<a href=“http://www.emory.edu/ACAD_EXCHANGE/2005/octnov/hicks.html]The”>http://www.emory.edu/ACAD_EXCHANGE/2005/octnov/hicks.html)

He concludes through his analysis:
“Strictly from the perspective of enhancing the colleges reputation, then, improving the graduate school would appear to be a relatively effective, even optimal, policy.”

It appears UF is indeed already laying the groundwork for higher Peer Review scores with all the money coming into its graduate programs.

It will however take some time to improve this number in order to increase the PA score.

THEREFORE: No chance of short term improvement here.

xNYer · August 27, 2008, 5:49pm

Improving UF’s Graduation / Retention.
This Main category is worth a total of 20%.
It is broken down into two sub- categories which make up the 20%.
They are:
1- Six (6) Year Graduation Rate worth 16% of the 20% and
2- Freshman Retention Rate worth 4% of the 20%

Per 2008 USNWR UF is ranked 44th in this main category.

Graduation and Retention Rank- VALUE 20%
Overall Rank / State Rank/ School / delta 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 32/ -12
48/ 16/ PSU/ 35/ -9 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 37/ -7 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 40/ -4 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 40/ -4

49/ 17/ UF/ 44/ same/ RANKED 13th

38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 49/ 5 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 49/ 5 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 59/ 15 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 61/ 17

FACT: UF is ranked ahead of UW- Madison which is a top 10 school as well as UC-SB, UT- Austin and UWash.
It is also within reach of UC- Davis & UC- Irvine in this category.
How close are they to improving in this 20% category.

Look at the specifics in the sub-sections below.

A- 6 yr Grad Rate Subcategory VALUE 16% of the 20%

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School/ delta
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 86%/ -7%
48/ 16/ PSU/ 85%/ -6%
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 84%/ -5%
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 82%/ -3%
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 81%/ -2%
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 79%/ 0%

49/ 17/ UF/ 79%/ same RANKED 13th Tied

44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 79%/ 0%
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 77%/ 2%
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 75%/ 4%

FACT: UF ranked tied for 13th with UW- Madison and UC- Irvine @ 79%
It is only 2% points short of UC- Davis and 3% points of UIUC.

CONCLUSION: As a category that is worth a total of 16% THIS IS ONE ofthe areas that UF MUST concentrate on!!!

B- Avg Fresh Ret Subcategory VALUE 4% of the 20%

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School/ 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 94%/ 0% 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 94%/ 0%

49/ 17/ UF/ 94%/ same/ RANKED 1st tied

38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 93%/ 1% 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 93%/ 1% 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 93%/ 1% 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 93%/ 1% 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 92%/ 2% 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 91%/ 3% 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 91%/ 3%

FACT: UF already ranked tied for 1st in this 4% category.
CONCLUSION:UF must keep this up.

xNYer · August 27, 2008, 5:58pm

Perhaps someone out there reading this has an answer to this question.

From the data provided by USNWR BOTH UF and UC-Irvine have identical 6 yr garduation rates worth 16% and identical freshman retention rates worth 4%.

Yet when USNWR lists the Graduation & Retention Rank UF is # 44 but UC- Irvine is #40?

I could find no explanation in their explanation of their methodology.

xNYer · August 28, 2008, 5:33pm

Improving UFs 2008 Selectivity numbers:

Per USNWR- Selectivity rank- 15% TOTAL POINTS

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 31/ -13
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 36/ -8 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 38/ -6 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 42/ -2 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 44/ 0

49/ 17/ UF/ 44/ same/ RANKED 12th tied

44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 48/ 4 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 51/ 3 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 52/ 8 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 93/ 49

FACT: UF currently stands at #12 Tied with UIUC with a selectivity rank of 44.
Closest is UW- Madison 2 pts ahead.

Now let’s look at the three (3) sub-categories that represent how we get the 15%.

A- SAT 25-75% rank Sub- Category VALUE- 7.5%

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 1200-1360 
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 1160-1360 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 1140-1360

49/ 17/ UF/ 1140-1360/ same/ RANKED 11th tied

44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 1120-1370 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 1090-1310 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 1080-1290 
48/ 16/ PSU/ 1080-1280 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 1070-1310 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 1030-1280

FACT: UF tied at 11th with the same SAT scores as UC-SD a top ten school.
CONCLUSION: Also within range of #10 UIUC if they raise their bottom 25% up by 20 SAT Points.
(POINTS AVAILABLE HERE!)

B- Freshmen in top 10% Sub - Category VALUE- 6%

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School 
38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 99%/ -27% 
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 96%/ -24% 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 96%/ -24% 
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 95%/ -23% 
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 84%/ -12%

49/ 17/ UF/ 72%/ same RANKED 13th

44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 70%/ 2% 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 58%/ 14%
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 55%/ 17%
48/ 16/ PSU/ 37%/ 35%

FACT:
UF ranked 13th. They however are a full 12% back from UWASH. Those UC numbers in the high 90% are crazy.

CONCLUSION: Need to show improvement here but 12% is a big number to make up in a selection cycle.
(POINTS AVAILABLE HERE!)

B- Acceptance rate Sub- Category- VALUE 1.5%

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School 
49/ 17/ UF/ 48%/ same/ RANKED 8th

38/ 10t/ UC- San Diego/ 49%/ 1% 
44/ 13t/ UT- Austin/ 49%/ 1% 
44/ 13t/ UC- SB/ 53%/ 5% 
38/ 10t/ UW-Madison/ 58%/ 10%
48/ 16/ PSU/ 58%/ 10%
44/ 13t/ UC- Irvine/ 60%/ 12%
38/ 10t/ UIUC/ 65%/ 17%
42/ 11t/ UC- Davis/ 68%/ 20%
42/ 11t/ UWashington/ 68%/ 20%

FACT: UF currently ranked # 8 out of the top 10 schools already.
CONCLUSION: This sub-category % will probably continue to increase for UF with the reductions in the freshman class being implemented .Unfortunately this subcategory is only worth 1.5% total.

SELECTIVITY CATEGORY CONCLUSION:
Points can be acquired by:
1- Raising the bottom 25% SAT of admitted freshmen by a minimum of 20 total SAT points from 1140 up to 1160.
2- Raising the Freshmen in the top 10% admitted from 72% up to at least 84%

goufgators · August 28, 2008, 5:44pm

xNYer, are these numbers the latest release of the rankings?

SSobick · August 28, 2008, 5:53pm

In 3 years UF will have tuition that is 40% above the regular tuition costs (via Tuition Differential). This equates to over $70 million a year in recurring funding that is designated by law to hire more faculty and academic advisors. I would imagine this would be a HUGE boost to the Undergraduate program…

This should help: (1) the student to faculty ratio (2) Faculty resources (3) Student satisfaction (4) Graduation Rates

<ul>
<li>XNYer, how do you think this windfall will work itself out in the overall rankings?</li>
</ul>

xNYer · August 28, 2008, 8:19pm

goufgators. yes, these are the 2008 numbers. Latest & greatest data.

SSobick. I still have 3 more major categories to input but hopefully I can get them in by tomorrow and we can look at all the numbers at the same time.

My gut feeling is that if things were simply to remain AS IS next year UF blows by Penn State.

PSU is picking up MASSIVE points with their increasing graduation rate numbers. Last year & this year.

rc251 · August 29, 2008, 12:38am

That looks like the 2007 data. SB, Davis, and Irvine all tied at 44th this year overall.

xNYer · August 29, 2008, 9:05am

No rc251 this is the 2008 data.
Davis is tied at 42
SB, Irvine tied at 44

goufgators · August 29, 2008, 11:04am

xNYer, something tells me that this data might be off by a year.

Example:

Overall Rank/ State Rank/ School
49/ 17/ UF/ 48%/ same/ RANKED 8th

That percentage correlates with the 2006 admissions data on: [University</a> of Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“University of Florida - Wikipedia”>University of Florida - Wikipedia)

xNYer · August 29, 2008, 12:31pm

The numbers I am using are comming from the “hot pink” 2008 USNWR ranking book.

And here I was thinking this was the latest book.

Well, if the #'s in your link pan out then UF is closer to where it wants to be based on those selectivity #'s.

I can’t believe they sold me the old book knowing the new one was out!

Oh well back to square one.
I think the methodology I am using is correct and will stick with it.

I will go buy the 2009 and start over. (but NOT this weekend)!

THIS THREAD IS DEAD>
Look for the 2009 thread comming soon

goufgators · August 29, 2008, 2:10pm

I would return it.

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How does UF become a top 10 State School- Sorted 2008 USNWR Data

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