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

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

2016 University Academic Rankings
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, commonly known as Florida A&M University or FAMU, is a public, historically black university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. Florida A&M University was founded on the highest of seven hills in Tallahassee, Florida on October 3, 1887. It is one of the largest historically black universities in the United States by enrollment. It is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, as well as one of the state's land grant universities, and is accredited to award baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

In 2015, the National Science Foundation ranked Florida A&M University as the #1 HBCU in the nation for total research and development expenditures.

History

On October 3, 1887, the State Normal College for Colored Students began classes, and became a land grant university four years later when it received $7,500 under the Second Morrill Act, and its name was changed to State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students. However, it was not an official institution of higher learning until the 1905 Buckman Act, which transferred control from the Department of Education to the Board of Control, creating what was the foundation for the modern Florida A&M University. This same act is responsible for the creation of the University of Florida and Florida State University from their previous institutions. In 1909, the name of the college was once again changed to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes, and in 1953 the name was finally changed to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Florida A&M is the only publicly funded historically black college or university in the state of Florida.

In 1951, the university started a pharmacy and nursing program. In order to give these students hands on experience, the university built a hospital. Until 1971 this hospital was the only one for 150 miles (240 km) to serve the black community.

In the fall of 1997, FAMU was selected as the TIME Magazine-Princeton Review "College of the Year" and was cited in 1999 by Black Issues in Higher Education for awarding more baccalaureate degrees to African-Americans than any institutions in the nation.

FAMU was named the number-one college for African Americans in the United States in the September 2006 issue of Black Enterprise Magazine and a "Best in the Southeast" college by Forbes Magazine in 2014. FAMU is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.

Presidents | Academics

The university offers 62 bachelor's degrees in 103 majors/tracks. 36 master's degrees with 56 majors/tracks are offered within 11 of the university's 13 schools and colleges. Two professional degrees and 11 doctoral degree programs are offered.

In 2012, FAMU implemented the Medical Scholars Program (MSP). MSP is a rigious pre-medical program designed to uniquely prepare academically talented students for success in medical school and beyond. There is a cap of 10 new students accepted into this competitive program each year.

As of 2016, FAMU leads the nation with eight championship titles in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC). The HCASC is an annual academic quiz bowl competition sponsored by Honda that is exclusive to the nation's HBCUs.

FAMU has eight fully funded, endowed, eminent-scholars chairs, including two in the School of Journalism and Graphic Communications, four in the School of Business & Industry, one in the College of Education, one in Arts and Sciences, and one in its School of Pharmacy.

Demographics

Flori ... [more on wikipedia]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Details

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Details
detail value
stateFlorida
conferenceMid Eastern Athletic Conference
publicPublic
scores1390/927/21
levelBelowAverage
rank[-1
overall ROI rank[-1
sizemedium-small
undergrads8495
grads1746
price31525
drop52
stem33
research53
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University?

1. number -1 for Academics.

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

What universities are similar to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University?


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University National Academic Rankings

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference233222121
State of Florida2434311718971016
Top Ten Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference233222121


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI