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

Landmark Conference (Average)

2016 University Academic Rankings
The Landmark Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the eastern United States in the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, D.C.

History

The conference was established on December 5, 2005. When the creation of the new conference was officially announced on December 13, another member institution was included, the Stevens Institute of Technology, but ended up joining the Empire 8. Finally, in November 2006, the University of Scranton became the eighth charter member institution. John A. Reeves began his service as commissioner of the Landmark Conference on September 1, 2006. He was succeeded by Daniel A. Fisher in 2012. The first intra-conference competition was played September 15, 2007 at Kings Point, New York, when the University of Scranton defeated the United States Merchant Marine Academy 1-2 in men's soccer.

On May 22, 2015, the United States Merchant Marine Academy announced that it has accepted an invitation to join the Skyline Conference, effective beginning with the 2016-17 athletic seasons.

Current members | Full members | Associate members | Membership timeline | Sports | Football

Football is not sponsored by the Landmark Conference due to having football programs at only five of the institutions. Therefore the United States Merchant Marine Academy competes in the Liberty League; Juniata College, Moravian College, and Susquehanna University compete in the Centennial Conference while Catholic University plays in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Logo

During January 2007, a contest was announced to design a logo for the newly formed Landmark athletic conference. The contest was only open to undergraduate students from the conference schools. In a first phase, a panel of judges selected a winner at each of the eight Landmark Conference schools. Winners received $250 each. In a second and final round, on February 6, in Washington, D.C., the presidents of the Landmark schools selected the final design from among the eight first round winners. The logo submitted by Susquehanna University's graphic design major and men's lacrosse player Tim Storck '08, of Cockeysville, Md., was selected. Storck was awarded the $1000 additional prize. Selected colors were maroon (Pantone 1815) and blue (Pantone 281).

References | External links

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Landmark Conference Details

Landmark Conference Details
detail value
state-
conferenceLandmark Conference
public-Conf-
scores1669/1113/25
levelAboveAverage
rank[-
overall ROI rank[-1
sizesmall
undergrads2196
grads808
price56004
drop26
stem15
research5
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Landmark Conference (Average)?

1. number - for Academics.

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

What universities are similar to Landmark Conference (Average)?


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Landmark Conference National Academic Rankings

Landmark Conference National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Conferences865668969451678588


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

Landmark Conference Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Landmark Conference

Landmark Conference Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Landmark Conference
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

Landmark Conference Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Landmark Conference

Landmark Conference Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Landmark Conference
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
96.60
Capital Athletic Conference (Average)-Capital Athletic Conference-Conf-Average-481
96.46
Landmark Conference (Low)-Landmark Conference-Conf-AboveAverage-481
95.78
College Conference of Illinois and Wisc (Average)-College Conference of Illinois...-Conf-AboveAverage-386
94.44
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Average)-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference-Conf-Average-458
90.52
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (Low)-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference-Conf-Average--1
89.82
Division II Independents (Average)-Division II Independents-Conf-Average--1
89.56
Sun Belt Conference (Low)-Sun Belt Conference-Conf-Average-327
85.10
New England Football Conference (Low)-New England Football Conference-Conf-Average--1