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

Old Dominion Athletic Conference (Average)

2016 University Academic Rankings

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The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. Of its 14 member schools, all but one are located in Virginia; the other full member is in North Carolina. The conference also has four associate members in Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Along with the American Southwest Conference (ASC) and Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), it is the largest all-sports conference in Division III. The only larger D-III conference is the league for cross-country operated by the Middle Atlantic Conferences, with 17 members (for both men and women).

History

The conference was founded in 1975 as the Virginia College Conference. On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976-77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1982-83, women's sports were added. In 1981, Catholic University joined the conference after leaving Division I's Colonial Athletic Association. In 1988, Virginia Wesleyan was added as a member, and, in 1990, Guilford became the first member located outside D.C. and Virginia. Maryville College was an all-sports member in the 1980s. In 1989 Catholic left the conference to become a charter member of the Capital Athletic Conference, returning in 1999 as a football-only member. The next school to leave the conference was Mary Baldwin College, which left in 1999 to join the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference.

In 2010 the ODAC announced the addition of Shenandoah University to its full-time membership, with its first full year of involvement during the 2012-13 academic year.

The league office moved its physical location from Salem, Virginia, to Forest, Virginia, just outside centrally located Lynchburg, and contracted with Jim Ward Design for its new marks.

On March 3, 2015, Sweet Briar College announced it was to close (cease operations) at the end of the 2015 summer session. However, on June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a mediation agreement that will keep Sweet Briar College open for the 2015-16 academic year. Sweet Briar reactivated its sports teams in the 2015-16 season and remained a full member of the ODAC.

On September 29, 2015, it was announced that Catholic University would withdraw in 2017 as associate member to join the new football league at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.

The conference hosts the Division III championships in football and men's basketball, both of which are held in Salem, Virginia. DIII softball has called Salem home along with Division III women's lacrosse and volleyball. Since 1993 - the conference and city have hosted over 50 Division III national championships.

Member schools | Current members | Associate members | Former members | Membership timeline

This article or section uses color as the only way to convey important information. To meet Wikipedia's web accessibility guidelines, please help improve this article or section so it is easier to read by those with and without disabilities. See the talk page for details.

Sports | References

^ The Middle Atlantic Conferences have a total of 18 members. However, the MAC operates as three separate groups under one administrative structure-the Commonwealth Conference, Freedom Conference, and the Middle Atlantic Conference. The last of these is generally used to form a single conference in sports that have only a few MAC members participating; the only sport operated by this group with more than 11 participating schools is cross-country for both men and women, in which 17 of the 18 total members participate.

^ Nick Anderson and Susan Svrluga (March 3, 2015). "Sweet Briar College to close because of financial challenges". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
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Old Dominion Athletic Conference Details

Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Old Dominion Athletic Conference (Average)?

1. number - for Academics.

2. number 485 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to Old Dominion Athletic Conference (Average)?

1. Gordon College

2. Wagner College

3. Saint Michael's College

4. Franciscan University of Steubenville

5. Willamette University

6. Ursinus College

7. Wofford College



National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Old Dominion Athletic Conference National Academic Rankings



Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

Old Dominion Athletic Conference Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Old Dominion Athletic Conference



Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

Old Dominion Athletic Conference Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Old Dominion Athletic Conference