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

California State University-Bakersfield

2016 University Academic Rankings
California State University, Bakersfield (often abbreviated CSUB or shortened to CSU Bakersfield) is a public university located in Bakersfield, California, United States, and was founded in 1965. CSUB opened in 1970 on a 375-acre (152 ha) campus, becoming the 19th school in the 23 campus California State University system. The university offers 91 different Bachelor's degrees, 20 types of Master's degrees, and 12 teaching credentials. The university does not confer Doctoral degrees.

In the Winter 2013 academic quarter, 8,111 undergraduate and graduate students attended CSUB, at either the main campus in Bakersfield or the satellite campus, Antelope Valley Center in Lancaster, California. The university is a heavily dominated commuter campus serving the city of Bakersfield. CSU Bakersfield's petroleum geology program is the only one offered by a public university west of the Rockies. Cal State Bakersfield was ranked the 20th top college in the United States by Payscale and CollegeNet's Social Mobility Index college rankings.

History

CSUB owes its founding to the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960, which formalized the creation of the CSU system, initially as the "California State Colleges" system. The areas in the southern San Joaquin Valley had been demanding a four-year university since the 1950s. After considering several locations, including nearby Delano and parts of Kings and Tulare County, a steering committee decided on Bakersfield because at the time it was the largest isolated metropolitan area in the United States without a four-year university. Their decision was turned into a bill by Bakersfield's State Senator Walter W. Stiern, ratified by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Pat Brown

Under these rules, the school was founded as California State College, Bakersfield in 1965. It opened for classes in September 1970. In 1982 the California State College system became the California State University system and the school changed to its present name.

Athletics

CSU Bakersfield is currently a NCAA Division I school. The Roadrunners began the transition process in 2006 and became a full Division I member in July 2010. Following a period as one of a tiny number of Division I independents, CSU Bakersfield joined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2013 for most sports. For wrestling, CSUB competes in the Pac-12 conference. CSUB wrestling is the institution's original Division-I sport and has placed 3rd (1996) and 8th (1999) in the NCAA D-I Wrestling Championships. The men's basketball team competes at the Rabobank Arena in downtown Bakersfield, while the women's basketball team plays on campus at the Icardo Center. The men will return to campus when the 2011-12 season begins in November.

On June 1, 2006, Cal State Bakersfield President Horace Mitchell formally announced that CSUB is raising $6 million over a five-year period for the additional costs for the athletics program. Part of the additional costs is to start a baseball program and women's golf program. In September 2011, CSUB accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference for baseball.

Rudy Carvajal was CSUB's Athletic Director from 1972 until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2010. In 2005, Carvajal received the prestigious CSU Wang Family Award. Under Carvajal's leadership, CSUB has 30 national championships and received the Sears Directors Cup in 1998. Nearly 60,000 people attend NCAA sporting events at CSU Bakersfield.

On May 17, 2007, CSUB announced that Bill Kernen would be the school's first baseball coach, with the school's first official season beginning in Spring of 2009.

Athletic achievements | National Division II championships | Student life | Admissions | Clubs and organizations

CSUB ... [more on wikipedia]

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

California State University Details

California State University Details
detail value
stateCalifornia
conferenceWestern Athletic Conference
publicPublic
scores1350/900/20
levelBelowAverage
rank[-1
overall ROI rank[-1
sizemedium-small
undergrads7635
grads1085
price33459
drop53
stem15
research0
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for California State University-Bakersfield?

1. number -1 for Academics.

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

What universities are similar to California State University-Bakersfield?


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

California State University National Academic Rankings

California State University National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Western Athletic Conference666553366
State of California758078515620185469
Top Ten Western Athletic Conference666553366


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

California State University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to California State University

California State University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to California State University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

California State University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to California State University

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