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

Georgia State University

2016 University Academic Rankings
"Georgia State" redirects here. For the American state, see Georgia (U.S. state). For the sovereign state in the Caucasus, see Georgia (country). For other uses, see Georgia.

Georgia State University (commonly referred to as Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It has a student population of approximately 40,000, including 32,000 undergraduates.

Georgia State University offers more than 250 undergraduate and graduate degree programs spread across eight academic colleges with around 3,500 faculty members. Georgia State University is the largest university in the University System of Georgia and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Approximately 27% of the student population is considered part-time while 73% of the population is considered full-time. The university is classified as a 'Research University/Very High Activity', according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Since its inception, 192,785 degrees have been conferred, with 6,737 of them conferred during fiscal year 2011. The university has a full-time faculty count of 1,142, with 69 percent of those faculty members either tenured or on tenure track.

GSU has two libraries, University library and Law library, which hold over 4.3 million volumes combined and serve as a federal document depository. The university has an economic impact on the Atlanta economy of more than $1.4 billion annually.

History

Initially intended as a night school, Georgia State University was established in 1913 as the Georgia School of Technology's Evening School of Commerce. A reorganization of the University System of Georgia in the 1930s led to the school becoming the Atlanta Extension Center of the University System of Georgia and allowed night students to earn degrees from several colleges in the University System. During this time, the school was divided into two divisions: Georgia Evening College, and Atlanta Junior College. In September 1947, the school became affiliated with the University of Georgia and was named the Atlanta Division of the University of Georgia. The school was later removed from the University of Georgia in 1955 and became the Georgia State College of Business Administration. In 1961, other programs at the school had grown large enough that the name was shortened to Georgia State College. It became Georgia State University in 1969.

In 1995, the Georgia Board of Regents accorded Georgia State "research university" status, joining the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Georgia, and the Augusta University.

The first African-American student enrolled at Georgia State in 1962, a year after the integration of the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. Annette Lucille Hall was a Lithonia social studies teacher who enrolled in the course of the Institute on Americanism and Communism, a course required for all Georgia social studies teachers.

The Peachtree Road Race, was started in 1970 by Georgia State cross country coach and dean of men Tim Singleton, heading it in its first six years before turning it over to the Atlanta Track Club. The second year, he created the first valuable collectible T-shirt.

Campus expansion | 1913-1975

Over its 100-plus year history, Georgia State's growth has required the acquisition and construction of more space to suit its needs. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, numerous buildings were constructed as part of a major urban renewal project, such as the Pullen Library (1966), Classroom South (1968), the expansion of the Pullen Libra ... [more on wikipedia]

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

Georgia State University Details

Georgia State University Details
detail value
stateGeorgia
conferenceSun Belt Conference
publicPublic
scores1595/1063/24
levelAverage
rank[253
overall ROI rank[230
sizelarge
undergrads25328
grads7228
price40068
drop46
stem21
research88
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Georgia State University?

1. number 253 for Academics.

2. number 230 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to Georgia State University?

1. Ohio University

2. Washington State University

3. Kent State University at Kent

4. Temple University

5. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

6. San Diego State University

7. West Virginia University


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Georgia State University National Academic Rankings

Georgia State University National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Div1 Public778371686348777282
Sun Belt Conference143321283
South East Region498874312619325146
State of Georgia5129444495
Top Ten Sun Belt Conference143321283
Top Ten State of Georgia5108444455


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

Georgia State University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Georgia State University

Georgia State University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Georgia State University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
99.54
Ohio UniversityOhioMid American ConferencePublicAverage215174
92.95
Washington State UniversityWashingtonPacific 12 ConferencePublicAverage189193
92.81
Kent State University at KentOhioMid American ConferencePublicAverage347358
92.64
Temple UniversityPennsylvaniaAmerican Athletic ConferencePublicAboveAverage168199
92.63
University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeWisconsinHorizon LeaguePublicBelowAverage420367
92.61
San Diego State UniversityCaliforniaMountain West ConferencePublicAverage183218
92.61
West Virginia UniversityWest VirginiaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAverage320192
92.60
Indiana University-Purdue University-IndianapolisIndianaThe Summit LeaguePublicAverage427342
92.56
Texas Tech UniversityTexasBig Twelve ConferencePublicAverage176104
92.52
East Carolina UniversityNorth CarolinaAmerican Athletic ConferencePublicAverage312325
92.40
University of New MexicoNew MexicoMountain West ConferencePublicAverage265153
92.18
Oklahoma State UniversityOklahomaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAverage182124
92.00
California State University-Long BeachCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAverage318387
91.96
Old Dominion UniversityVirginiaConference USAPublicAverage356368
91.83
California State University-FullertonCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAverage362435
91.79
University of ArizonaArizonaPacific 12 ConferencePublicAverage12486
91.16
University of MemphisTennesseeAmerican Athletic ConferencePublicAverage359314
86.60
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical CollegeLouisianaSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage14888
86.55
University of South Carolina-ColumbiaSouth CarolinaSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage93130
86.36
University of Colorado BoulderColoradoPacific 12 ConferencePublicAboveAverage7959
86.27
University of Nevada-Las VegasNevadaMountain West ConferencePublicBelowAverage421449
86.23
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginiaAtlantic 10 ConferencePublicAboveAverage178207
86.21
Kennesaw State UniversityGeorgiaAtlantic Sun ConferencePublicAverage290291
86.11
University of Missouri-ColumbiaMissouriSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage12198
85.86
University of Massachusetts-AmherstMassachusettsMid - American Conference / At...PublicAboveAverage88144
85.85
University of KentuckyKentuckySoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage159130
85.84
Iowa State UniversityIowaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAboveAverage12971
85.70
The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleTennesseeSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage116188
85.67
University of North TexasTexasConference USAPublicAboveAverage192165
85.53
University of Oklahoma-Norman CampusOklahomaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAboveAverage13754
85.44
Central Michigan UniversityMichiganMid American ConferencePublicBelowAverage454402
85.43
Auburn UniversityAlabamaSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage13979
85.35
Kansas State UniversityKansasBig Twelve ConferencePublicAverage249168
85.33
Middle Tennessee State UniversityTennesseeConference USAPublicAverage384372
85.26
University of Nebraska-LincolnNebraskaBig Ten ConferencePublicAboveAverage11998
85.19
University of Akron Main CampusOhioMid American ConferencePublicAverage331251
85.12
Florida State UniversityFloridaAtlantic Coast ConferencePublicAboveAverage76104
85.09
University of KansasKansasBig Twelve ConferencePublicAboveAverage172130
85.09
Boise State UniversityIdahoMountain West ConferencePublicAverage389329
84.97
Western Michigan UniversityMichiganMid American ConferencePublicBelowAverage446320
84.95
Towson UniversityMarylandColonial Athletic AssociationPublicAverage264365
84.95
University of California-RiversideCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAverage167212
84.83
Eastern Michigan UniversityMichiganMid American ConferencePublicAverage445385
84.78
Illinois State UniversityIllinoisMissouri Valley ConferencePublicAverage279222
84.74
Georgia Southern UniversityGeorgiaSun Belt ConferencePublicAverage254236
84.61
Brigham Young University-IdahoIdahoNo Conference AffiliationPrivateAverage312164
84.46
Oakland UniversityMichiganHorizon LeaguePublicAverage417270
84.44
CUNY Hunter CollegeNew YorkCity University of New York At...PublicAboveAverage193228
84.24
University of ToledoOhioMid American ConferencePublicAverage405285
84.20
University of LouisvilleKentuckyAtlantic Coast ConferencePublicAverage258224


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

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

Georgia State University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Georgia State University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
97.07
University of LouisvilleKentuckyAtlantic Coast ConferencePublicAverage258224
96.26
Georgia Southern UniversityGeorgiaSun Belt ConferencePublicAverage254236
96.11
North Dakota State UniversityNorth DakotaMissouri Valley Conference / T...PublicAverage261196
95.37
The University of Texas at ArlingtonTexasSun Belt ConferencePublicAverage240157
95.07
University of New MexicoNew MexicoMountain West ConferencePublicAverage265153
94.76
Florida Atlantic UniversityFloridaConference USAPublicAverage305303
94.08
Portland State UniversityOregonBig Sky ConferencePublicAverage308408
93.37
University of WyomingWyomingMountain West ConferencePublicAboveAverage250152
91.27
University of Northern IowaIowaMissouri Valley ConferencePublicAboveAverage252248
91.10
Appalachian State UniversityNorth CarolinaSun Belt ConferencePublicAboveAverage230228
90.14
West Coast Conference (Low)-West Coast Conference-Conf-AboveAverage-258
89.40
University of the PacificCaliforniaWest Coast ConferencePrivateAboveAverage251344
88.47
Calvin CollegeMichiganMichigan Intercollegiate Athle...PrivateAboveAverage255209
86.27
Loyola University MarylandMarylandPatriot LeaguePrivateAboveAverage249245
84.37
Midwest Conference (Average)-Midwest Conference-Conf-Good-245
81.55
Babson CollegeMassachusettsNew England Women's & Men's At...PrivateGood243150