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

Hampton University

2016 University Academic Rankings
Hampton University (also HU, or Home by the Sea) is a private historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1868 by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen. In 1878 it established a program for teaching Native Americans, which lasted until 1923.

History

The campus looking south across the harbor of Hampton Roads was founded on the grounds of "Little Scotland", a former plantation in Elizabeth City County not far from Fortress Monroe and the Grand Contraband Camp that gathered nearby. These facilities represented freedom to former slaves, who sought refuge with Union forces during the first year of the war.

The American Missionary Association (AMA) responded in 1861 to the former slaves' need for education by hiring its first mulatto teacher, Mary Smith Peake, who had secretly been teaching slaves and free blacks in the area despite the state's prohibition in law. She first taught for the AMA on September 17, 1861 and was said to gather her pupils under a large oak. After the tree was the site in 1863 of the first reading in the former Confederate states of the Emancipation Proclamation, it was called the Emancipation Oak. The tree, now a symbol of the university and of the city, is part of the National Historic Landmark District at Hampton University.

The Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, later called the Hampton Institute, was founded in 1868 after the war by the biracial leadership of the AMA, who were chiefly Congregational and Presbyterian ministers. It was first led by former Union General Samuel Chapman Armstrong. Among the school's famous alumni is Dr. Booker T. Washington, an educator who founded the Tuskegee Institute, another college supported by the AMA.

Civil War

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Union-held Fortress Monroe in southeastern Virginia at the mouth of Hampton Roads became a gathering point and safe haven of sorts for fugitive slaves. The commander, General Benjamin F. Butler, determined they were "contraband of war", to protect them from being returned to slaveholders, who clamored to reclaim them. As numerous individuals sought freedom behind Union lines, the Army arranged for the construction of the Grand Contraband Camp nearby, from materials reclaimed from the ruins of Hampton, which had been burned by the retreating Confederate Army. This area was later called "Slabtown."

Hampton University traces its roots to the work of Mary S. Peake, which began in 1861 with outdoor classes which she taught under the landmark Emancipation Oak in the nearby area of Elizabeth City County. The newly issued Emancipation Proclamation was first read to a gathering under the historic tree there in 1863.

After the War: teaching teachers

After the War, a normal school ("normal" meaning to establish standards or norms while educating teachers) was formalized in 1868, with former Union brevet Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong (1839-1893) as its first principal. The new school was established on the grounds of a former plantation named "Little Scotland", which had a view of Hampton Roads. The original school buildings fronted the Hampton River. Legally chartered in 1870 as a land grant school,it was first known as "Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute."

Typical of historically black colleges, Hampton received much of its financial support in the years following the Civil War from the American Missionary Association (whose black and white leaders represented the Congregational and Presbyterian churches), other church groups and former officers and soldiers of the Union Army. One of the many Civil War veterans who gave substantial sums to the school was General William Jackson Palmer, a Union cavalry commander from Philadelphia. H ... [more on wikipedia]

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

Hampton University Details

Hampton University Details
detail value
stateVirginia
conferenceMid Eastern Athletic Conference
publicPrivate
scores1505/1003/23
levelAverage
rank[-1
overall ROI rank[-1
sizesmall
undergrads3503
grads890
price35352
drop35
stem17
research0
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Hampton University?

1. number -1 for Academics.

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

What universities are similar to Hampton University?

1. Valparaiso University

2. Campbell University

3. Gardner-Webb University

4. Monmouth University

5. Drake University

6. Howard University

7. Wofford College


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Hampton University National Academic Rankings

Hampton University National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Div1 Private464845454731314044
Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference522556643
State of Virginia2225231519871315
Top Ten Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference422555533


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

Hampton University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Hampton University

Hampton University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Hampton University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
92.85
Valparaiso UniversityIndianaPioneer Football League / Hori...PrivateAverage407281
85.44
Campbell UniversityNorth CarolinaPioneer Football League / Big ...PrivateAverage-1-1
85.16
Gardner-Webb UniversityNorth CarolinaBig South ConferencePrivateAverage-1-1
85.04
Monmouth UniversityNew JerseyBig South Conference / Metro A...PrivateAverage478477
79.74
Drake UniversityIowaPioneer Football League / Miss...PrivateAboveAverage263136
76.66
Howard UniversityWashington DCMid Eastern Athletic ConferencePrivateAverage343429
69.82
Wofford CollegeSouth CarolinaSouthern ConferencePrivateAboveAverage340211
68.85
Presbyterian CollegeSouth CarolinaBig South ConferencePrivateAboveAverage-1-1
68.20
Syracuse UniversityNew YorkAtlantic Coast ConferencePrivateAboveAverage172216


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

Hampton University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Hampton University

Hampton University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Hampton University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
96.67
Gardner-Webb UniversityNorth CarolinaBig South ConferencePrivateAverage-1-1
95.16
Marist CollegeNew YorkPioneer Football League / Metr...PrivateAverage-1-1
94.94
Campbell UniversityNorth CarolinaPioneer Football League / Big ...PrivateAverage-1-1
91.95
Monmouth UniversityNew JerseyBig South Conference / Metro A...PrivateAverage478477
90.21
Presbyterian CollegeSouth CarolinaBig South ConferencePrivateAboveAverage-1-1
89.77
Valparaiso UniversityIndianaPioneer Football League / Hori...PrivateAverage407281
85.58
Samford UniversityAlabamaSouthern ConferencePrivateAboveAverage431272