University Benchmarks

Ranking the Top 100 Academic Universities

UniversityBenchmarks.com ranks the universities that attract and produce the best academic students.

There are many 'University Rankings' on the internet. Most rankings rely heavily on subjective metrics like 'reputation' and 'selectivity'. UniversityBenchmarks is purely an academic ranking model. The rankings are based on the reported academic and financial metrics of the colleges. There are no subjective factors like 'reputation' that are used. The calculations are performed using normal statistical models. All universities are considered equal and there is no weighting of the ranking categories.

The university 2014-2015 dataset is comprised of over 2400 US Universities & Colleges and comes from multiple sources using the most favorable reported metrics for a university.

The universities are ranked against each other in each filtered set. It is an iterative process whereby lower ranking universities are removed and the set is re-ranked until the final set of 100 is reached.

Selecting 'Rank Top 10 Only' will show the Top 10 for each filter category ranked against each other.

The academic rankings of the universities within the major conferences (ACC, Big12, Big10, Pac12, SEC) are available.

The 2017 rankings will be available in August.

Notes:
  • It is possible for universities to be ranked higher/lower than one another depending on the filter set.
  • Conference averages are based on the top 8 schools in the conference.
  • Public Schools are highlighted
  • Clicking on the university's seal icon will take you to the university's website.

Ranking Fields

Rank - Overall rank based on the average of the ranking fields (Scores, Difficulty, Smartest, Brainpower, Faculty and Research).

Scores - SAT & ACT scores. The university's test scores are corrected for dropout rate when score level is Good, Excellent or Elite. This will slightly boost scores for highly competitive schools.

Difficulty - Academic rigor is estimated based on how difficult it is to get an "A" at the university. An estimated GPA at the university is calculated for the average US Student. University grade inflation, average GPA, and STEM density are factors.

Smartest - University that can field the highest scoring students based on the average US University size. Higher Smartest Rank = "Smartest for the Average University"

Brainpower - The average "smartest" rank using 5 reference populations (CalTech, MIT, Stanford, GaTech and Berkeley). Higher Brainpower Rank = "Higher Density of Smart Students". The university ranked higher can mathematically field 'X' number of smarter students than universities ranked below them.

Faculty - Ranking based on number of % of faculty with awards and academy membership.

Research - Ranking is achieved by iteratively ranking the average of 3 research metrics (r-pop, r-stem, r-other ). The lowest ranked college is then removed and the new set is re-ranked. The result is the schools with potentially the strongest research environments per student bubble up to the top regardless of size or research budget.

  • r-pop - Average research spending for student population
  • r-stem - STEM research spending
  • r-other - Other/Medical/Health research spending

Salary ROI - "Salary Return on Investment" is not used in the overall ranking but is provided for additional information. Using the undergraduate average starting and mid-career salaries, the rank is based on a 20yr salary accumulation (with raises) minus the cost of a 4 year education at the university. Salaries are normalized across the country using the average COLA for the university's geo-economic region (7 regions total). The COLA effect is diminished by the level of the university. Elite, Excellent and Good universities have a greater distribution of graduates across the country and a diminishing COLA effect. The resultant value would be the graduate's spending potential over the 20yr period.

Overall ROI - "Overall Return on Investment" is not used in the overall ranking but is provided for additional information. The average of Overall Rank and Salary ROI. This would be the "Best academic bang for the buck". Colleges that produce the best education, at the best price, with the best return will be ranked higher.

Color Key - ranks are colorized as follows 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 50 100

The 2016 University Academic Rankings

Bethune-Cookman University

2016 University Academic Rankings
Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU), formerly Bethune-Cookman College (B-CC), is a private, co-ed, historically black university affiliated with the United Methodist Church, located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. The primary administration building, White Hall, and the Mary McLeod Bethune Home have been added to the US National Register of Historic Places.

History

Mary McLeod Bethune founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School in 1904. The school underwent several stages of growth and development through the years and in 1923, it merged with the Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida and became a co-ed high school. A year later in 1924, it became affiliated with the Methodist Church. By 1931, the school had become a junior college.

The school became a four-year college in 1941 when the Florida Board of Education approved a 4-year baccalaureate program in Liberal Arts and Teacher Education. The name was changed to Bethune-Cookman College.

Presidents

Richard V. Moore, Sr. became president in 1947. Under his tenure the college was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1970. It joined the United Negro College Fund and other academic and professional organizations. The curriculum expanded, student enrollment increased, and new buildings were constructed for residential housing and classrooms.

Oswald P. Bronson, Sr., a B-CU alumnus, served as the fourth president of the college from 1975 to 2004. During his tenure increased student enrollment led to continuous development and expansion of the college. A rapidly increasing student enrollment led to construction of more student housing, classroom buildings, and the Mary Mcleod Bethune Auditorium. Major fields of study increased from 12 in 1974 to 37 by 2003. In addition, seven continuing education centers were established throughout the state. While maintaining accreditation by SACS, Florida Board of Education, and the United Methodist Church Board of Higher Education, the college added new accreditation in the Nursing and the Teacher Education programs.

In August 2004, Trudie Kibbe Reed was appointed to the presidency. She was the first woman president since Bethune. Campus improvements have included construction of the Center for Civic Engagement, the L. Gale Lemerand School of Nursing, the creation of the Alexis Pugh and Eugene Zimmerman Scholarship houses, and the provision of a university-owned house as an alumni center during her tenure. Reed also established the university's first graduate program under the School of Graduate & Professional Studies: a Master of Science in Transformative Leadership.

Dr. Edison O. Jackson was appointed as the university's interim president in May 2012. Jackson was appointed to the presidency in May 2013 and is committed to serve a 3-year term.

Academics | Library

The Harrison Rhodes Memorial Library was the original library of Bethune-Cookman College which was a tribute to author Harrison Rhodes of the wealthy Rhodes family. Harrison, along with his sister Margaret, championed the then Daytona Normal and Industrial School for Negro Girls. Upon Margaret's death, the balance of the Rhodes estate, some $560,000, was given to Bethune-Cookman College. The Harrison Rhodes Memorial building still exists as a campus hall after having been replaced by the Carl S. Swisher L ibrary in 1941, which was mainly financed by the wealthy tobacco industrialist and philanthropist Carl S. Swisher. The library contains 140,000 volumes with a two story building complete with group study rooms, conference rooms, a computer center, bibliographic instruction lab as well as the archives/special collections. There are some 21 databases and four special collections: The Mary McLeod Bethune, Florence Roane, Attica Collection, and the Black Collection.

... [more on wikipedia]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bethune-Cookman University", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

Bethune Details

Bethune Details
detail value
stateFlorida
conferenceMid Eastern Athletic Conference
publicPrivate
scores1225/817/18
levelBelowAverage
rank[-1
overall ROI rank[-1
sizesmall
undergrads3899
grads145
price27070
drop60
stem8
research0
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Bethune-Cookman University?

1. number -1 for Academics.

2. number -1 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to Bethune-Cookman University?


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Bethune National Academic Rankings

Bethune National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference1313131111661313
State of Florida364340263014133538


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

(mathematically similar student body, size, academics, stem, salary... etc)

Bethune Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Bethune

Bethune Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Bethune
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

Bethune Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Bethune

Bethune Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Bethune
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI