Colorado's Universities: National and world rankings (Denver, Pueblo: fit in, tuition, approval)

[iknowftbll]

In 2003 the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China started reviewing all world universities in order to create a tool by which they could compare their own universities. The Academic Ranking of World Universities is the result. Since then the ARWU list has become a widely used reference for the world's leading universities. Their methodology has been thoroughly reviewed by academics at many leading universities, and has been found solid.

Here's a quick summary:
About ARWU

Now the reason why I mention this is because Colorado has a pretty good showing one the list. The University of Colorado, Colorado State University and University of Colorado at Denver are all on the list.

CU ranked 25th nationally, 32nd world.
CSU ranked 70-89 nationally, 151-200 world.
CU-D ranked 90-111 nationally, 201-300 world.

Now this is just one of many annual college rankings published by a wide range of sources. But this is also published by a non-profit institution, as opposed to the U.S. News rankings. And as I mentioned, it seems to pass muster with many academics.

It's good to see some of Colorado's Universities do well and rank among the top universities in the world.

Here's a link to the national rankings:
United States Universities in Top 500 - 2010

And here's a link to the world rankings:
ARWU 2010

[bluescreen73]

It's a good thing they don't include the football program in their rankings or else both CU and CSU would fall out of the top 150.

[iknowftbll]

You can say that again!

[iknowftbll]

So I've spent the last hour or so reviewing different world university rankings and overall am very satisfied to see that the University of Colorado is consistently making these lists. Where it stands obviously varies by the publisher's methodology, but the lowest I found CU was 170, and most lists have them in the top 75.

Sorry if I seem like I'm tooting my own horn as a CU grad, but it's good to see my Alma Mater's name and reputation hold steady against so many world class universities.

[Josseppie]

That is exactly why I am thrilled that the state put Pueblo's university in the Colorado State system. Yes I know this only looks at CSU FC but now that CSU Pueblo has the same resources its only a matter of time till CSU Pueblo will be on that list as well.

[Katarina Witt]

Like all lists, this one is a little suspect. UCD ahead of Notre Dame? It depends on the criteria.

[iknowftbll]

All lists are suspect based on the criteria. There is no one definitive way to determine which university is the best. But their methodology has been reviewed and approved, so they are not entirely off-base. There's something of value here.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by iknowftbll

All lists are suspect based on the criteria. There is no one definitive way to determine which university is the best. But their methodology has been reviewed and approved, so they are not entirely off-base. There's something of value here.

"Approved" by whom? Who do you need to get approval from to make a college list?

[ndk]

I work in higher ed and collaborate with a lot of different universities around the world. I've got a couple salient observations I'd make:

1) Based on the personnel and students with which I've worked, CSU has a very strong campus and is IMHO at least on par with the UC system. I'd also ask people to remember and consider our neighbors to the north, as the University of Wyoming in Laramie is a totally awesome place. I really loved Laramie. Go Cowboys!

2) Universities in America are allocating incredible amounts of tuition dollars to facilities, athletics, and executive pay. It's basically the opposite in Europe and Asia, where the focus is almost exclusively on academics.

3) The sharpest students I've worked with, anywhere in the world, were from Peking University. I don't know whether it's the huge size of the country or their ethos, but whatever it is, the kids there are AMAZINGLY gifted. We can expect incredible things from them in the future.

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by Katiana

"Approved" by whom? Who do you need to get approval from to make a college list?

Read the "about" link in the original post. You don't need approval from anyone, but if you want a list to be relevant, it doesn't hurt to have someone review your work, criteria, how the universities are selected, etc...