<p>I am hoping that some learned fellow CCer can tell me how to find undergrad departmental rankings, if they do exist. I've tried every type of Google search I can think of to no avail. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Pay your $15. and log onto US News and read away. It is the most useful and easily accessible from anywhere. Well.......maybe not the bathroom. heheh</p>
<p>Rugg's Recommendations doesn't exactly rank departments, but it does provide excellent lists of the best colleges (LACs and universities) for each major.</p>
<p>I agree with Warbler: I like Rugg's Recommendations as a starting point (although it is not always on target).</p>
<p>However, I think you really have to do your own research and due dilligence to evaluate most undergraduate programs, even those where rankings exist.</p>
<p>Some things I look for are:</p>
<ul>
<li>department accreditation by a professional association related to the subject, </li>
<li>faculty size compared to the number of graduating majors in the department </li>
<li>where grads of the department go on to graduate school or employment</li>
<li>any recent or pending changes in funding for the department (search the school's press releases, and the student newspaper archives), </li>
<li>special facilities or capabilities of the department (department library, research facilities, special equipment, etc.)</li>
<li>how many prof's in the department are tenured, how many are full-time, how many are just visiting or are not tenured. </li>
<li>the philosophy or subject approach of the department. This can take some digging, and you may have to put some divergent pieces together to see if the department's goals/philosophies are a fit with yours. Two equally sized departments at different schools can have very different approaches.</li>
<li>I also like to get a hold of the actual course schedules (not the catalog which merely lists courses that may or may not be offered on a regular basis) for a few semesters and see how many classes the department typically offers, how large or small they are, and whether they fill up quickly or are over-subscribed. A department is only good if you can get into classes without too much trouble. :)</li>
</ul>
<p>Another piece of advice that I also find helpful came from the Philosophical Gourmet site, which ranks Philosophy graduate programs but also has a section discussing how to evaluate undergrad programs, is to (1) find the rankings for top graduate level programs (these are usually more readily available) and then (2) look at the faculty bio's and see how many received their doctorates from the top grad programs. Of course, at large universities, you'll also need to find out how many of those faculty actually teach undergraduates. </p>
<p>There are, of course, many other things to look at when comparing undergrad departments, and I'm sure others will add to these suggestions.</p>
<p>I'd rather do this kind of research on my own than rely solely on rankings, which usually only look at a few key elements, not the broad picture of what an undergraduate's experience is actually likely to be.</p>
<p>Eadad, the closest thing should be The Gourman Report. However, I am not sure it is still worth a recommendation, especially since the 10th edition had a Princeton Review connection, which is almost synonymous to highly questionable value in light of the integrity of their other "surveys." </p>
<p>Googling Amazon and Gourman will provide an update on availability. </p>
<p>I would suggest to scout the UIUC website. They maintain quite a list of various reports. </p>
<p>From sports to education, Americans are captivated by rankings. Everyone wants their favorite team to be the best, and every parent wants their child to attend the best college or university. While sports teams can compete on the playing field to determine who is better on a given day, institutions of higher education have no commonly agreed upon measures to allow for the comparison of teaching and research programs. The overwhelming variety in size and purpose of institutions makes the prospect of comparing colleges a daunting one for students, parents, and the colleges themselves.</p>
<p>For many years, various bodies have undertaken statistical and reputational rankings of colleges and attempted to provide information to prospective students. Increasingly, the importance and validity of college rankings is a hotly debated issue. Many universities, including highly ranked ones, are beginning to question both the data and methods used by some ranking services. Of special concern are the aspects of the rankings which deal with the difficult to measure concept of institutional reputation. At this site, you will find links to many ranking services, along with cautionary notes and a discussion of the ongoing controversy over rankings. </p>
<p>The listing of items on our site's pages in no way constitutes an endorsement of a ranking service by the Education and Social Science Library or by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The purpose of our site is only to draw together and provide context to various ranking services. We hope the information found here will improve your knowledge about rankings in general and help you better use these services. Toward that end, we highly encourage you to peruse our Caution and Controversy page. Our College Rankings Bibliography provides numerous articles on the topic. In addition, the UIUC Office of Publications and Marketing has prepared a publication which lists the national rankings of the various UIUC departments.</p>
<p>Also, taking a peak at the manner UT-Austin presents its rankings is instructive:</p>
<p>xiggi</p>
<p>I think you have missed your calling.......you ARE a trove of information......thanks</p>
<p>I'm glad to help when I am able to, Mr. M. :)</p>