Important to note: Large state public universities often have Honors Colleges or Honors Programs which merit a higher academic rating than does the university overall. Certainly, this is the case for Arizona State University (ASU), Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, College of Charleston–plus you get to live, work, study & play in Charleston !!!–the University of Vermont & many other schools.
@bloomfield88 : Further refinement or re-examination, not lobbying.
University of Kansas is probably the other school. “The highly selective University Honors Program provides 1,600 students with special advising, tutorials, and opportunities for research grants.” “Five new residential facilities have been built since 2015.” “There isn’t a time at KU where your academics and instruction are not made a top priority.” “Lawrence is the American college town. Period.” “With nearly 50 nationally ranked academic programs, Kansas’s reputation continues to grow.”
However, the Fiske guide To Colleges 2020 edition has made an error in referring to KU as a Big Ten university.
Nevertheless, a great school & a great bargain for the right student.
This is sort of off-point, but I’ve had a hard time conceptualizing the difference academically between the different large state schools. My impression is that in each, students will be in huge classes, especially their first couple of years, often taught by grad students and without personal attention from professors, and will likely use the same textbooks. So on what basis can one compare the academic difference between, say, UF, UMD, and ASU? Especially when you are comparing the flagship schools at different states. They all seem to have similar facilities and opportunities for STEM majors.
My daughter is planning to apply to UMass Amherst. Why is UF “better”? or UNC-CH? or UCLA? Or even UVa (although UVa isn’t as large as the others I’ve mentioned, so that undoubtedly helps)? Is it just the strength of the out of state students that attend those schools–which may make up as little as 20% of the student population? Does UVa get a bump because of its coolness? I honestly have no idea how that is quantified.
This couldn’t be farther from my D’s experience. I had much, much larger lecture halls at Cornell than my D did at Purdue. None of her courses are taught by grad students and she’s on a first name basis with most of her profs.
“@bloomfield88 : Further refinement or re-examination, not lobbying.”
Oh, my gosh, readers lobbied and they changed a slew of rankings!
Fiske’s curious academic ‘pen’ ranking is even sillier than I thought.
While some may be disappointed with a favorite school’s academic ranking, Fiske remains the most respected authority in the field of college guidebooks.
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While I have compiled the lists of 3 Pen & 3.5 Pen schools, I think that it is easier to present the list of schools (7) which received just 2 Pens for Academics.
2 Pens for Academics:
Auburn University (solid honors college/program)
Univ. of Cincinnati
Louisiana State Univ. (LSU)
Univ. of Maine–Orono
UNC-Wilmington (party school near the beach & ocean)
Univ. of Rhode Island
West Virginia University
Auburn offers engineering/architechture/science/agriculture.
@RayManta I would look at student-teacher ratios and endowments to start. Not all big schools are created equal. The size of budgets/endowments can make a huge difference in terms of facilities, operations, departments, programs, advising, etc. Lastly, large institutions can have large R&D budgets too.
3.5 Pens: (22 schools)
American University
Univ. of Arizona
UC-Riverside
Centre College
Champlain College
Univ. of Mary Washington
UMass-Amherst
UMinnesota–Morris
NC State (great school)
Ohio State University
Ohio Wesleyan
Univ. of Oregon
Univ. of Pittsburgh (solid honors program & very healthy endowment)
Univ. of Puget Sound
Purdue Univ. (has some outstanding programs !)
USC (uh-oh !)
Rhodes College (great school)
Univ. of Richmond (great school)
Tulane Univ. (great school)
Southwestern Univ.
SUNY-Geneseo
SUNY-Purchase
The list of 3 Pen schools is fairly long. I will add it later.
It’s hard to see USC & Purdue in the 3.5 Pen category as both are outstanding universities. Rhodes College is another.
USC in CA, not in South Carolina, correct? If so, the knives will be out. 
Tulane and Richmond are surprising too.
That said, so many schools are powerhouses for specific majors, and not necessarily the school as a whole.
USC (uh oh !) means = University of Southern California
Over the past two decades, I have run into many graduates of University of Kansas, Kansas State & Auburn who praise their respective schools. Not a bad word. Yet, Kansas State did not even make the Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020 edition as one of the top 10% of schools.
Great aspect about Auburn Honors: If not admitted through the normal application process, enrollin the summer session after high school graduation & one’s summer grades at Auburn can qualify one for automatic admission to honors in the Fall. This is a great opportunity !
Also, for future accountants / CPAs: Schools that are never mentioned on any list or in any books or guides can yield Big 4 placement in Audit / Assurance.
How many pens would a hypothetical college rate if it offers top end academics in a broad range of subjects that will interest and challenge the top students anywhere, but also offers low end academics that can be passed for graduation by students majoring in “social studies” (beer and party studies) or recruited athletes who barely meet the NCAA minimum academic standards?
Several very high quality, personalized attention schools are on the 3 Pen list.
Examples: Rollins College, St. Lawrence University, SMU, Univ. of San Diego, Babson, Bentley, BYU, plus many more. Just shows how tough the competition is among US colleges & universities.
I forgot to list the University of Vermont as a 3.5 Pen school. Honors College / Program is even better. Spectacular location.
When I think of Elon, I think of the overlap to be High Point
I’m repeating this post above.
ALL the colleges in the Fiske Guide are good schools academically. As stated above, " In general, an academics rating of three pens suggests that the institution is a solid one that easily meets the criteria for inclusion in a guide devoted to the top 10 percent of colleges and universities in the nation".
Just felt that needed to be repeated given the “editorial” comments by the OP on some colleges including an unnecessary, IMO, “uh-oh” for a perfectly fine 3.5.
3 Pen schools:
Adelphi
Agnes Scott
Univ. of Alabama (great scholarships & great honors)
Albion College
Alfred
Allegheny College
Alma
Alverno
Antioch
Arizona State University (great scholarships & great Honors College)
Arkansas
Atlanta Colleges–Morehouse & Spelman (both have great recruiting)
College of the Atlantic (only about 320 fulltime students; located in resort area of Bar Harbor, Maine)
Austin College
Babson
Beloit
Baylor
Bennington College
Bentley
Birmingham Southern
BYU
Butler
Calvin College
Catholic University of America in Wash DC
Chapman
Pitzer College
Kentucky
Knox College
Lake Forest (very upscale location north of Chicago)
Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon
Loyola-(Maryland & Los Angeles & New Orleans)
Manhattanville College
Marlboro College (not for long though)
Marquette
Univ. of Maryland
Univ. of Maryland BC
Univ. of Miami
Michigan State
Mills College
Millsaps
Univ. of Mississippi (Oxford = great college town)
Univ. of Missouri
Muhlenberg College
Univ. of Nebraska (solid school, great tech programs & opportunities) Lincoln, Nebraska is the state capitol & home to a growing high tech community including lots of start-ups.
New Jersey Inst. of Tech.
Univ. of New Mexico (inexpensive & lots of scholarships)
Northeastern University in Boston (lots of internships & externships)
Oglethorpe
Ohio University
Oklahoma
Oregon State
Univ. of the Pacific
Pepperdine
Presbyterian
Prescott College
Principia
Providence College
Quinnipiac
Randolph
Univ. of the Redlands
Ripon
RIT
Rollins College (business oriented country club)
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech.
Coll. of St. Benedict & St. John (Minnesota)
St. Lawrence University
Saint Louis Univ.
Saint Michael’s
Univ. of San Diego
SMU
Santa Clara (great location for tech jobs)
Seattle University (great location in Seattle)
Univ. of San Francisco (large nursing program)
Univ. of South Carolina
Texas Tech
Trinity Univ. (Texas)
Truman State
Univ. of Tulsa (private school–worth a look)
Ursinus
Villanova (great school)
Univ. of Utah
Virginia Tech (great school overflowing with applicants & matriculants)
Xavier
Wofford College
Wittenberg
Wash & Jefferson
Washington College
Wells College
Westmont College
Wheaton College (Illinois) = very conservative
Wheaton College (Mass) = very liberal