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

New College of Florida

2016 University Academic Rankings
This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (November 2015)

New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college located in Sarasota, Florida, United States. It was founded originally as a private institution and is now an autonomous honors college of the State University System of Florida. In 2015, U.S. News & World Report ranked New College as the fifth best value public liberal arts college in the United States.

History

Originally conceived during the late 1950s, New College was founded in 1960 as a private college by local civic leaders for academically talented students. Financial assistance was provided by the Board of Homeland Missions of the United Church of Christ. George F. Baughman served as the first president from 1961 to 1965.

Envisioned as a new attempt at liberal arts education in the South, the core values of the freedom of inquiry and the responsibility of individual students for their own education were to be implemented through a unique academic program. Open to students of all races, genders, and religious affiliations, New College opened its doors in 1964 to a premier class of 101 students. Faculty members included the historian and philosopher, Arnold J. Toynbee, who was lured out of retirement to join the charter faculty.

By 1972, New College's ranks had swelled to more than 500 students and it had become known for its teaching-focused faculty, its unique courses and curricula, and its fiercely independent and hard-working students. As the 1970s progressed, although New College's academic program continued to mature, inflation threatened to undermine the economic viability of the institution. By 1975, the college was $3.9 million in debt and on the brink of insolvency, and the University of South Florida (USF) expressed interest in buying the land and facilities of the near-bankrupt college to establish a branch campus for the Sarasota and Bradenton area.

In an unusual agreement, the New College Board of Trustees agreed to hand over the school's campus and other assets to the state, at the time valued at $8.5 million, in exchange for the state paying off its debts and agreeing to continue to operate the school as a separate unit within the USF. The agreement stated that New College was to receive the same funding, per-student, as other programs at USF. The former New College Board of Trustees became the New College Foundation, and was required to raise money privately to supplement the state funds to reach the total necessary to run New College, at the time about a third of New College's $2-million-a-year operating budget. Under the agreement, New College was re-christened the "New College of the University of South Florida." USF started a Sarasota branch program that shared the bay front campus, and the schools began an uneasy relationship that would last for the next twenty-five years, with New College and the University of South Florida through its Sarasota branch program sharing the campus.

As part of a major reorganization of Florida's public education system in 2001, New College severed its ties with USF, became the eleventh independent school in the Florida State University System, and adopted its current name, New College of Florida. As part of its establishment as an independent university, the University of South Florida was directed to relocate its facilities away from the New College campus, which it did on August 28, 2006, when it opened a new campus for USF Sarasota-Manatee.

Today, as Florida's independent honors college, New College retains its original academic prog ... [more on wikipedia]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "New College of Florida", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

New College of Florida Details

New College of Florida Details
detail value
stateFlorida
conferenceNo Conference Affiliation
publicPublic
scores1920/1280/29
levelExcellent
rank[190
overall ROI rank[237
sizetiny
undergrads834
grads0
price43101
drop32
stem0
research0
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for New College of Florida?

1. number 190 for Academics.

2. number 237 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to New College of Florida?


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

New College of Florida National Academic Rankings

New College of Florida National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Top25019077148231206153159238237
Public79746969190909794
South East Region331019765148479870
State of Florida82316914134427
Top Ten Top25019077148231206153159238237
Top Ten State of Florida62310888108


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

New College of Florida Peer Universities, Similar Universities to New College of Florida

New College of Florida Peer Universities, Similar Universities to New College of Florida
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

New College of Florida Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to New College of Florida

New College of Florida Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to New College of Florida
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
95.55
Jewish Theological Seminary of AmericaNew YorkNo Conference AffiliationPrivateExcellent186233
95.13
Dickinson CollegePennsylvaniaCentennial ConferencePrivateExcellent187201
94.49
Rhodes CollegeTennesseeSouthern Athletic AssociationPrivateExcellent191147
91.97
Skidmore CollegeNew YorkUpstate Collegiate Athletic As...PrivateGood210220
90.71
The College of New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey Athletic ConferencePublicGood164193
85.75
University of Puerto Rico-Rio PiedrasPuerto RicoIndependent Southeast RegionPublicAboveAverage176232
84.64
University of North Carolina WilmingtonNorth CarolinaColonial Athletic AssociationPublicAboveAverage221228
83.64
George Mason UniversityVirginiaAtlantic 10 ConferencePublicAboveAverage156143
82.31
SUNY College of Environmental Science and ForestryNew YorkNo Conference AffiliationPublicAboveAverage229244
82.31
CUNY Hunter CollegeNew YorkCity University of New York At...PublicAboveAverage193228
82.31
DePaul UniversityIllinoisBig East ConferencePrivateAboveAverage193150
79.90
Montana State UniversityMontanaBig Sky ConferencePublicAboveAverage217168
79.29
University of North FloridaFloridaAtlantic Sun ConferencePublicAboveAverage219214
77.75
University of North TexasTexasConference USAPublicAboveAverage192165
76.90
Florida International UniversityFloridaConference USAPublicAverage163170
76.90
University of California-RiversideCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAverage167212
75.75
University of OregonOregonPacific 12 ConferencePublicAboveAverage174221
75.66
Mid - American Conference (Average)-Mid American Conference-Conf-AboveAverage-185
75.65
SUNY at AlbanyNew YorkColonial Athletic Association ...PublicAverage188218
68.89
Washington State UniversityWashingtonPacific 12 ConferencePublicAverage189193