<p>This magazine puts out the most well known college ranking annually. Its methodologies are suspect, but some of their parameters have merit. It is a shame that there isn't an application that allows a prospective student to pick and choose among their most important parameters to create a personal ranking. </p>
<p>For example, 25% of the rankings depend on an opinion survey given to college provosts. While some people believe that school reputation is paramount, I do not. This is a completely subjective parameter and it is rife with political overtones. I would prefer to replace that parameter with a standardized exam given to graduating seniors. When compared to a similar exam given to entering freshmen, the quality of education can be quantitated. </p>
<p>What do you folks think? And, by the way, how did UW do? I have not been able to find the complete ranking.</p>
<p>If not the most, one of the most surprising to me was seeing University of Illinios- Urbana Champaign tied with University of Wisconsin- Madison, one which I wouldn’t have ever guessed.</p>
<p>UW lost one point and that was enough to break a big tie last year with about 5 others at 35 and move UW down. The point loss was mostly due to lower rankings for financial resources and support. With the declines in state support that is not surprising. Hopefully the rising tuition under the Madison Initiative reverses this in the next few years as some schools ahead of us–may be worse off. Nothing has changed much on the ground at UW and the pace of new construction is increasing if anything. I think better days ahead if the economy improves sooner than later–if not–could be tough times.</p>
<p>It does much better for instate with need than OOS. Until recectly OOS was pretty cheap and nobody complained. In the last 10 years it shot up and people started needing OOS aid. They have been slow to respond to that due to tough times most of the last decade. Some Madison Initiative funds will go to OOS aid for people making under $85,000/yr.</p>
<p>Still a little disappointing. Wisconsin used to rank in the early 30’s 4 years ago. It’s extremely hard to gain a rank, while very easy to drop down the list since so many schools are trying to make it to the top 50.</p>
<p>Geez, a drop to 39! OMG! Maybe this is the break I need to hammer down on financial aid and get D one of them scholarship deals!</p>
<p>(As you can tell, this is tongue-in-cheek. The whole USN&WR thing is nuts. I could do it in 3 statements: Tier 1=great school; Tier 2=dang good school; Tier 3=still pretty good school)</p>
<p>You would think that a better system to rank schools would be developed by now. I suspect that the mag used officials from the “top schools” to develop their methodology. Not surprisingly, the originators probably used criteria that enhanced their school’s ranking. </p>
<p>I don’t want to hijack the topic away from UW-Madison, but especially in the past, many on CC treated the USN&WR rankings as gospel. Anything not Tier 1 (1-50 rank) was not even worth discussion. I would like to think there’s been a slight change in that perception over the last couple years, as CC has become somewhat-less elitist & more informational.</p>
<p>A better system? Not necessarily overall, but I’d like to see more constructive comparisons of majors from one university to another. How their ‘breadth’ is, to use a Madison term. One really has to delve into the specific school websites to get that info, and even then sometimes that info is lacking. I am truly amazed at how lame some websites are at major universities that ought to know better, 'cause that’s their calling card.</p>
<p>Currently $80K. Probably subject to adjustment based on demand. With more peopl making less now they might not be able to fund everyone below $80K without having too little money for the other parts of ther program.</p>
<p>From an email sent to Alumni and Friends of the School of Business, from Dean Mike Knetter:</p>
<p>U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of U.S. undergraduate business programs on Thursday. For the second consecutive year, the Wisconsin School of Business ranks 13th overall among business schools, seventh among public institutions, and third in the Big Ten. </p>
<p>Two programs within the Wisconsin School of Business retain their rankings within the magazine’s top-five list of specialties. The Real Estate program again ranks second and the Risk Management and Insurance program again ranks third in the nation. In the same issue, the Marketing program ranks 7th, the Accounting program again ranks 16th, and the Finance program ranks 21st.</p>
<p>This year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison ranks 39th among national universities, ninth among public universities, and tied for third among Big Ten schools. UW-Madison also makes the magazine’s list of schools with outstanding Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects, Learning Communities, and Study Abroad programs –areas with strong linkages to student success.</p>