Top 10 Public Universities

<p>im surprised to see no SUNYs on here</p>

<ol>
<li>UC-Berkeley</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>UVA</li>
<li>UNC</li>
<li>Illinois</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
<li>William and Mary</li>
<li>Georgia Tech</li>
<li>Minnesota</li>
</ol>

<p>i think we can all agree that the top 5 includes berkeley, ucla, michigan, unc, and uva. after that, things are less clear, but a top 10 list should probably include Illinois and Wisconsin.</p>

<p>People40, </p>

<p>I guess you are entitled to your opinion, but Minnesota?!?!? The only time Minnesota should have a 10 next it would probably be in its ranking in the big ten. Penn State and Ohio State alone in the Big Ten both outrank Minnesota. Plus, putting Minnesota over Texas and Washington? USNews has Minnesota at #22 among public universities, which is about right.</p>

<p>Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report</p>

<p>ChoklitRain, I think Wisconsin should probably be included, but I think Illinois is right on the border and can fairly be left out. I think it can easily be substituted with others.</p>

<p>i dont agree so much with Wisconsin, Illinois and Texas. They are all great, but not sure about top 10. I will still defend Georgia Tech as being like number 6 or 7</p>

<p>1-Michigan
2-Berkeley
3-UVA
4-UCLA
5-UNC
6-Wisconsin
7-Texas
8-Georgia Tech
9-Illinois
10-UCSD</p>

<p>The next 10 (in no particular order): UCI, UCD, UCSB, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida, Washington, Maryland, Purdue, Minnesota</p>

<p>Why no William & Mary? Too narrow a focus. If it was solely a ranking of top 10 public colleges for undergrad education, I'd include it. As a more holistic ranking of top public "universities" which I take to include a matrix of undergrad education, undergrad selectivity, graduate and professional reputation, faculty quality and research prowess, W&M falls short.</p>

<p>Top 10 Publics for Engineering:
1. Berkeley
2. Georgia Tech
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. Purdue
6. Texas
7. Wisconsin
8. Virginia Tech
9. Penn State
10. Texas A&M/ UCSD</p>

<p>UCLA, W&M, UNC, and UVA fall out.</p>

<p>Wisconsin should absolutely be in the top ten publics.</p>

<p>im not from Wisconsin or the Norris region, so i obviously dont know it very well</p>

<p>Interesting when you look at the top ten publics in terms of rankings of overall individual schools and departments. Only Berkeley and Michigan truly stand out.</p>

<p>
[quote]
As a more holistic ranking of top public "universities" which I take to include a matrix of undergrad education, undergrad selectivity, graduate and professional reputation, faculty quality and research prowess

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
1-Michigan
2-Berkeley

[/quote]

Lenny, I like your posts. However, if you're using a holistic approach:</p>

<p>Undergrad education: Berkeley = Michigan
Undergrad selectivity: Berkeley > Michigan
Graduate reputation: Berkeley > Michigan
Professional school reputation: Michigan > Berkeley
Faculty Quality: Berkeley > Michigan (by awards and academy membership)
Research Prowess: Berkeley = Michigan (although Berkeley does run 3 national labs; Michigan has a medical school; I argue UCSF is Berkeley's med school - but I'll leave this out of it).</p>

<p>Therefore,
1. Berkeley
2. Michigan</p>

<p>;)</p>

<p>UCBChemEGrad. You always like to show UCLA lacking compared to UCB. To be honest, I still don't get it how UVA and UCLA are ranked higher than Michigan by USNWR. I mean I can understand why based on their criteria, but can anyone honestly really state that these schools are better overall than Michigan? Anyone other than hawkette of course.</p>

<p>wisconsin and illinois are in the USNEWS top 10. so are GA tech, w&m, and UCSD. i tend to agree with their top 10 list.</p>

<p>I agree with you UCBetc..... Berkeley is rightly ranked number one among public universities.</p>

<p>rjkofnovi you're mistaken. The University of Texas has top programs in law, medicine (if you count UT Southwestern), engineering, and business. There are few schools (even among the Ivies) that can say they have top programs in ALL the aformentioned disciplines, but the University of Texas certainly can.</p>

<p>Dbate. Michigan is above Texas in almost every ranking. I don't count UT Southwestern to UT-Austin just like I don't count UCSF as part of UCB. Nobody ranks UT-Austin above Michigan, sorry. Michigan is ranked higher overall in all of the disciplines that you mentioned.</p>

<p>
[quote]
There are few schools (even among the Ivies) that can say they have top programs in ALL the aformentioned disciplines, but the University of Texas certainly can.

[/quote]

From 2009 USNWR grad rankings:</p>

<p>Business:
7. Berkeley
12. Michigan
18. Texas</p>

<p>Law:
6. Berkeley
9. Michigan
16. Texas</p>

<p>Engineering:
3. Berkeley
9. Michigan
11. Texas</p>

<p>Medicine:
5. UCSF (Berkeley)
11. Michigan
22. UT Southwestern (Texas)</p>

<p>^ In the arts and sciences it's a similar story. Here are the latest US News graduate program rankings, basically a reflection of perceived faculty strength:</p>

<p>Biological sciences: Berkeley #2, Michigan #15, Texas #23
Chemistry: Berkeley #4, Texas #12, Michigan #16
Earth sciences: Berkeley #4, Michigan #5, Texas #9
Math: Berkeley #2, Michigan #9, Texas #14
Physics: Berkeley #3, Michigan #13, Texas #16</p>

<p>Economics: Berkeley #3, Michigan #11, Texas #25
Political Science: Michigan #3, Berkeley #5, Texas #25
Psychology: Michigan #2 (tie), Berkeley #2 (tie), Texas #12
Sociology: Berkeley #2, Michigan #3, Texas #14
History: Berkeley #2, Michigan #7, Texas #19
English: Berkeley #1, Michigan #12, Texas #19
Public Affairs: Berkeley #6, Michigan #7, Texas #14</p>

<p>The strength and breadth of these schools is amazing. You're right that very few schools can boast top 25 programs in all these disciplines. But the difference among them is clear: Berkeley's programs are often in the top 2 or 3 and consistently in the top 5 or 10. Michigan's are occasionally but not as frequently in the top 5, but pretty consistently in the top 10 or 15. Texas' are never in the top 5 (at least for this group), only occasionally in the top 10, with some frequency in the top 15 but more consistently in the 15-to-25 range. </p>

<p>This is broadly consistent with the 1995 NRC rankings which I won't wheel out here because they're so old, but bottom line, while we may quibble with US News' rankings in particular areas, I think the overall result is consistent with the general view among academics: Berkeley is clearly at the top of the heap among public universities and arguably has the strongest faculty of any university, public or private, on an overall basis. Michigan is also extraordinarily strong from top to bottom but clearly a notch behind Berkeley. Texas is strong, but definitely not as strong as the other two, and probably a little behind UCLA and Wisconsin in top-to-bottom strength.</p>

<p>^ Berkeley is in a 4-way tie at #1 for chemistry.</p>