When I started school back in 2006, Lehigh was ranked 31st. It is now at 47. What explains this steep drop?
us news rankings are just a piece of crap that’s what they are lol. take every ranking with a grain of salt tbh
Did you go to Lehigh?
It’s just one ranking. You could design your own formula to make Lehigh look better on paper.
Except for a few places here and there, and the inclusion of many of the lesser UCs high up in the rankings, US News is actually not that far off of my own ranking. They might be able to claim some credit for that, but some of my ideas are based on having read the discussions on this site for the past several years.
Many have said, and I agree, that the differences in overall quality are pretty small between #1 and #50, 50 and 100, etc.
There are plenty of great professors and bright kids at every school (and some of the dimmer bulbs will brighten considerably as they absorb their teaching…) – easily the #1 and #2 variables, respectively, in the quality of a college education.
Rather than dwelling on rankings – and gaming them – schools should identify areas that they think need to be improved.
Absolutely, Bucky…the top 25 or so are the top dogs in my opinion and Lehigh, along with many other fine institutions, is in the next tier…nothing wrong with that. Excellent opportunities are everywhere at these universities and it is up to the student to take advantage of them. I too, think the placement is appropriate. Look at all the ties, too.
That said, even though this ranking should indeed be taken with a grain of salt, it is not crap. Attention is paid to it and the metrics it is based on have value. While some schools have been taken to task for gaming the system, I see nothing wrong with that if it results in improvements…every corporation uses appropriate metrics to improve…universities are no different. I would be surprised if the Lehigh Administration were not meeting right now and discussing the importance of this decline and what to do about it (if anything). Lehigh has always taken its own path and will do things its own way after appropriate deliberation. I myself have seen it work that way for 40 years. It’s an excellent school (if you take advantage).
Here is an article that explains how the rankings are created.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings?page=4
This is the breakdown of how the ranks are decided. This first category of academic reputation is based mainly on opinions. So it would be very easy for Lehigh to drop a couple points just based on opinions in a survey. But the way, if you care and want to see Lehigh’s scores improve pull out your checkbook and make a big donation! That would sure help! 
Undergraduate academic reputation (22.5 percent): The U.S. News ranking formula gives significant weight to the opinions of those in a position to judge a school’s undergraduate academic excellence. The academic peer assessment survey allows top academics – presidents, provosts and deans of admissions – to account for intangibles at peer institutions, such as faculty dedication to teaching.
Faculty resources (20 percent): Research shows that the more satisfied students are about their contact with professors, the more they will learn and the more likely they are to graduate.
Faculty salary (35 percent) is the average faculty pay, plus benefits, during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 academic years, adjusted for regional differences in the cost of living using indexes from the consulting firm Runzheimer International. We also weigh the proportion of professors with the highest degree in their fields (15 percent), the student-faculty ratio (5 percent) and the proportion of faculty who are full time (5 percent).
Student selectivity (12.5 percent): A school’s academic atmosphere is determined in part by the abilities and ambitions of the students.
Financial resources (10 percent): Generous per-student spending indicates that a college can offer a wide variety of programs and services. U.S. News measures financial resources by using the average spending per student on instruction, research, student services and related educational expenditures in the 2013 and 2014 fiscal years. Spending on sports, dorms and hospitals doesn’t count.
Graduation rate performance (7.5 percent): This indicator of added value shows the effect of the college’s programs and policies on the graduation rate of students after controlling for spending and student characteristics, such as test scores and the proportion receiving Pell Grants.
Alumni giving rate (5 percent): This reflects the average percentage of living alumni with bachelor’s degrees who gave to their school during 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, which is an indirect measure of student satisfaction.
Anyone with half of a brain would care more about the success and demand of Lehigh graduates more than US News and World Reports that takes into consideration all sorts of things that can be manipulated.
I don’t think Lehigh is shaking in their boots, and I don’t think they are considering manipulating the results and rankings. They don’t have to do that. If you care about a drop in Lehigh’s rankings, then you just don’t get it.
My son attends Lehigh University and without a doubt this university is top notch! Lehigh offers a very intense rigorous academic program and it is the student’s responsibility to take full advantage this school’s resources. The academic background and the accomplishments of the faculty are outstanding and these are the people educating Lehigh students!
Haha Marky! You are so right!
There is top rated liberal arts college that is one state away from us. They must buy lists of all the good students in the geographical region. They send all the top kids tons of literature and invitations to apply. Then they don’t accept them! But, this marketing campaign has done wonders making the school appear to be a very selective school. And sure they get really good students but their little marketing campaign is just manipulating the statistics. I threw all the marketing materials away and steered my son away from the school.
Lehigh doesn’t need to play those games.
One of my best friend’s dad was a VP at a very large manufacturing corporation. He said they never hired Lehigh graduates - because they couldn’t afford them!!! Lehigh has a fantastic reputation with businesses on the east coast. Just ask anyone at Deloitte since their new CEO is a Lehigh grad. She was interviewed in the last Lehigh Alumni magazine. She said several times how desirable Lehigh grads are to employers!
Very true Ad, I have seen that.
Many if not most, of the schools that have been advancing in rank over Lehigh have large graduate and professional schools. I’m convinced that has a lot to do with the overall reputation of the school (which carries over to the undergraduate reputation). Not much Lehigh can do about that…it has taken many of those schools decades to set those programs up.
From what I have seen, I do think Lehigh is doing everything it can to provide an outstanding undergraduate experience - one which broadens horizons by more than just getting a degree and a job. Like I said, I am sure they are thinking about that every day. It is far, far better than when I went.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
The question asked is fairly straightforward. If a poster does not wish to answer the question, s/he should feel free not to post. Off-topic comments will be deleted.
Just to be clear, @kikkydee you have posted the rankings methodology in such a way that it is misleading as to the percentages. Here is how it breaks down:
15.0% Peer assessment survey
7.5% HS counselors’ ratings
22.5% SUBTOTAL: Undergraduate reputation
1.3% Acceptance rate
3.1% HS class standing in top 10%
0.0% HS class standing in top 25%
8.1% CR+M of SAT; composite ACT
12.5% SUBTOTAL: Student selectivity
7.0% Faculty compensation
3.0% Percent faculty with terminal degree
1.0% Percent faculty that is full time
1.0% Student-faculty ratio
6.0% Class size, 1-19 students
2.0% Class size, 50+ students
20.0% SUBTOTAL: Faculty resources
18.0% Average graduation rate
4.5% Average 1st-yr student retention rate
7.5% Graduation rate performance
30.0% SUBTOTAL: Graduation and retention rates
10.0% Financial resources per student
5.0% Average alumni giving rate
15.0% SUBTOTAL: Financial resources
So, for example, faculty compensation, which you reported as being 35%, is actually 7% of the overall formula. It is 35% of the Faculty Resources group, which in turn is 20% of the total formula.
35% x 20% = 7%.
Again, just for clarification.
BTW, as anyone that has seen my posts over the years will tell you, I am one of the loudest critics of the USNWR and all other ranking systems. Too off topic to go into why, but you and the others that say worrying about it is a waste of time and energy are correct. Tulane dropped in the rankings for several years, mostly or entirely due to Katrina effects (you would be shocked at how severe the effect was because of the way USNWR does their formula) yet the school actually thrived and got stronger students academically and larger classes every year for the last 6-8 years. This year, the first that Katrina was finally starting to get out of the 6 year graduation rates (yes, I know it seems like the math doesn’t make sense because Katrina was in 2005, you will just have to take my word for it or go look at the Tulane forum), Tulane went from 54 to 41. So even if you doubted what I said, there is the proof.
Anyway, the reason that is on topic is to show that USNWR, while certainly taken seriously by far too many people, doesn’t appear to have major effects on how Lehigh should fare in the future.
This is RELEVANT to the question because it deals with rankings and the ability to game the system. It was relevant every time it has been posted. My alma mater (notice I’m not saying which university it is) had a surge in applications because they started marketing heavily their FREE and rolling admissions. Indicates a steep increase in interest, no? Is that part of the formula? Even better is waitlisting or denying admission and boom! increase in selectivity. Is that a part of the formula?
Lehigh has been and always will be top tier and trounce universities below and above them where it counts…demand for their graduates and quality of life. Why am I not worried about a difference in rankings by USNews, even though I was advised earlier that I should be? Because that Lehigh diploma is admission into an exclusive club. The only way someone gets a diploma from Lehigh is by earning it with a lot of hard work and pushing themselves to the point that would break most of their peers. These kids work hard and play hard. They aren’t just heads and shoulders above their peers in intelligence, they also have charisma and joie de vivre. It’s a lethal combination for graduates of other colleges to compete against when it comes time for job offers.
Truth.
Not really relevant, but admission rate is 1.25% of the formula. 10% x 12.5%, rounded up to 1.3%. Tiny. Barely moves the needle if at all.
“Just to be clear, @kikkydee you have posted the rankings methodology in such a way that it is misleading as to the percentages. Here is how it breaks down:”
fallenchemist,
I was MISLEADING??? Hmmmmm, you must mean US News and World Reports was misleading since the article I referred to was written by them and posted on their own site (www.usnews.com). I provided the link to their article and I cut and pasted THEIR own percentage breakdowns from their article published on September 8, 2015.
You’ve hit the nail on the head, kikkydee.
Hey, I wasn’t smart enough to go to Lehigh! If I did I bet my summary of the US News and World Report article would have been so much better! Haha! I am just a proud mom of a Lehigh engineer!!! And you are right - Lehigh teaches their engineers the importance of working and playing well with each other.
Edited out snarky comment
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Mod
I wish that I had gone to Lehigh, too.
Except that you misquoted them by omission.
I wasn’t calling you out, or nitpicking because you forgot to use quotation marks, or anything like that to try and make you look bad. You left out a portion of the section you quoted which was key, and so the way you posted it made it look like Faculty salary is 35% of the formula instead of 7%. Here is the full portion of that section of your link:
You left out the part I italicized, which is the key part that explains that these are subparts of a larger category, and therefore a percentage of a percentage, which I also bolded to make even clearer. Without this portion there is no way for the reader to know that the 35% needs to be multiplied by 20%. I just didn’t want readers to be misled. I am sure you don’t either.
Although the ranking methodology is questionable, rankings themselves do matter very much.
When I applied 11 years ago, Lehigh was higher ranked than NYU, University of Rochester, Georgia Tech, and Boston College to name a few. These schools would have shared applicants with Lehigh. Today, we are tied with North Eastern, Penn State, and University of Florida. Our current position will affect the caliber of applicants who matriculate at Lehigh in the future.