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

Illinois State University

2016 University Academic Rankings

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Illinois State University (ISU), founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois and is located in Normal, Illinois. The University emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of the top ten largest producers of teachers in the US according to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. The University's athletic teams are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference and are known as the "Redbirds," in reference to the state bird, the cardinal.

Location

Illinois State University's campus is in the twin-city community of Bloomington-Normal near the geographic center of the state, 137 miles southwest of Chicago and 164 miles northeast of St. Louis. Interstates 74, 55, and 39; U.S. Route 150; and Illinois Route 9 intersect around Bloomington-Normal, creating a transportation hub. An Amtrak passenger station is just two blocks from the University.

History

ISU was founded as a training school for teachers in 1857, the same year Illinois' first Board of Education was convened and two years after the Free School Act was passed by the State Legislature. Among its supporters were judge and future Supreme Court Justice, David Davis and local businessman and land holder Jesse W. Fell whose friend, Abraham Lincoln, was the attorney hired by the Board of Education to draw up legal documents to secure the school's funding. Founded as Illinois State Normal University, its name was reflective of its primary mission as a normal school. Classes were initially held in downtown Bloomington, occupying space in Major's Hall, which was previously the site of Lincoln's "Lost Speech." With the completion of Old Main in 1860, the school moved to its current campus in what was then the village of North Bloomington, which was chartered as "Normal" in 1865. The new town had named itself after the university.

In 1965 as the institution expanded and moved toward a full liberal arts curriculum, its name was changed to Illinois State University at Normal, and in 1968, to Illinois State University.

In accordance with its mission, the school's motto was originally "and gladly wold he lerne and gladly teche," in the Middle English spelling of Geoffrey Chaucer which has since been updated to modern English in the gender-neutral form "Gladly we Learn and Teach."

Academics and organizations

Originally founded as a teachers' college, the University now offers a range of programs at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels. Illinois State is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The teacher preparation programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and are certified by the Illinois State Board of Education. In addition, 22 programs hold discipline-based accreditation.

Academic colleges | Rankings

In 2015, U.S. News & World Report ranked Illinois State University (tied for) 142 among a combined list of America's best 260 private and public "national universities" and (tied for) 74 among 117 public "national universities" in the United States that qualified for the list.

Demographics

As of the spring of 2015, total on-campus enrollment was 19,924, with 17,648 undergraduate students and 2,276 graduate students. 56 percent of students are female, while 44 percent are male. 18.2% of all students were from minority groups. 382 international students from 66 countries are enrolled. The average new beginning student had an ACT score of 23.7. The student-faculty ratio is 18 to one.

The Quad

The Illinois State University campus quadrangle is compact compared with other large universities, with buildings spaced closely together aroun ... [more on wikipedia]

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

Illinois State University Details

Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Illinois State University?

1. number 279 for Academics.

2. number 222 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to Illinois State University?

1. Georgia Southern University

2. University of California-Riverside

3. Towson University

4. Boise State University

5. Oakland University

6. University of Nevada-Reno

7. Sam Houston State University



National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Illinois State University National Academic Rankings



Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

Illinois State University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Illinois State University



Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

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