<p>Barrons, you’re making a real effort to find a negative in what I am posting here. Do you think I disagree with your statement that Berkeley “produces many great graduates?” The absolute numbers posted in the OP are there to positively confirm that. </p>
<p>The only difference is that a school such as Berkeley is simply not the best at producing PhDs as it barely makes a top 50 list that is controlled for size. </p>
<p>Absolute numbers represent one thing; normalized performance … another. I am sorry that the NSF itself dentifies the most performing schools as non-publics, and that their own conclusions seem to contradict what is often thrown around as factual evidence, namely the academic superiority of public research universities and the need to access a graduate school or graduate students for a competitive scientific education.</p>