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

South Carolina State University

2016 University Academic Rankings
South Carolina State University (often referred to as SCSU) is a historically black university located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only state funded, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina and is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Academics | Colleges, departments, and schools | Nuclear Engineering Program

SCSU is the only university in South Carolina and only HBCU in the nation to offer a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering. Currently the program operates through a partnership with North Carolina State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison. As of May 2015, 47 bachelor's degrees have been conferred by SCSU.

Accreditation

South Carolina State is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The university was placed on probation in June 2014 for failing to meet the accreditor's standards "concerning governing board conflicts of interest and board/administration structure, as well as financial stability and controls.". In June 2015, the SACS decided to allow the college to retain its accreditation, but kept them on probation for another year.

Campus

The school's campus size is 160 acres (65 ha), with an additional 267 acres (108 ha) at Camp Harry Daniels in Elloree, South Carolina. Three buildings, Lowman Hall, Hodge Hall, and Dukes Gymnasium are included in the South Carolina State College Historic District, and separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The library is the Miller F. Whittaker Library. The library was allocated $1 million from the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967 for its construction, and the library was dedicated in 1969. The library is named in honor of the university's third president. Originally two levels, a third level (the mezzanine) was added in a 1979 expansion.

History

The university's beginnings were as the South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical Institute in 1872 in Orangeburg, S.C created in 1872 in compliance with the 1862 Land Grant Act within the institution of Claflin College, now Claflin University.

In 1896 the South Carolina General Assembly passed an act of separation and established a separate institution - the "Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina", its official name until 1954.

1920s - 1940s

Academic programs received more attention as the student population increased, but other programs, such as the university's high school, were forced to close due to the Great Depression. Fortunately, the New Deal Programs were used to create, among other things, Wilkinson Hall, the university's first separate library building (now home to Admissions and Financial Aid).

1940s - 1950s

The college's campus grew, as it purchased over 150 acres (61 ha) for agricultural learning. After World War II, many students flocked to the college, creating a classroom shortage problem for the school. In 1947, the United States Army created an ROTC detachment, in which all male students were required to enroll until mandatory enrollment ended in 1969.

The school's name changed, as well, as the South Carolina General Assembly renamed the school South Carolina State College in 1954. Because of the "separate but equal" laws in the state, the legislature gave the college large sums of money to build new academic facilities and dormitories, some of which still stand on the campus today, including the Student Union (1954), and Turner Hall (1956). This was done in order to give black students an environment of "equal" education. Also, the legislature created a law program for the college, mainly to prevent black students from attending the law school at the then-segregated University of ... [more on wikipedia]

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

South Carolina State University Details

South Carolina State University Details
detail value
stateSouth Carolina
conferenceMid Eastern Athletic Conference
publicPublic
scores1247/831/19
levelBelowAverage
rank[-1
overall ROI rank[-1
sizesmall
undergrads2791
grads540
price37856
drop63
stem62
research9
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for South Carolina State University?

1. number -1 for Academics.

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

What universities are similar to South Carolina State University?


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

South Carolina State University National Academic Rankings

South Carolina State University National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Mid - Eastern Athletic Conference12121013134536
State of South Carolina242727172633513


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

South Carolina State University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to South Carolina State University

South Carolina State University Peer Universities, Similar Universities to South Carolina State University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

South Carolina State University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to South Carolina State University

South Carolina State University Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to South Carolina State University
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI