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

University of Arizona

2016 University Academic Rankings

The Old Main, also known as the University of Arizona School of Agriculture. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, ref. : #72000199.

The University of Arizona (also referred to as U of A, UA, or Arizona) is a public research university located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885, UA was the first university in the Arizona Territory. The university includes the Banner University Medical Center Tucson, which operates a separate 4-year M.D. college in downtown Phoenix. As of Fall 2015, total enrollment was more than 42,100 students, with the largest freshmen class ever at 8,100 students. The University of Arizona is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents. The mission of the University of Arizona is, "To improve the prospects and enrich the lives of the people of Arizona and the world through education, research, creative expression, and community and business partnerships." Arizona is one of the elected members of the Association of American Universities (an organization of North America's premier research institutions) and is the only representative from the state of Arizona to this group.

Known as the Arizona Wildcats (often shortened to "Cats"), the athletic teams are members of the Pac-12 Conference in the NCAA. UA athletes have won national titles in several sports, most notably men's basketball, baseball, and softball. The official colors of the university and its athletic teams are UA Red and Arizona Blue.

History

After the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862, the push for a University in Arizona grew. The University of Arizona was approved by the Arizona Territory's "Thieving Thirteenth" Legislature in 1885, who also selected the city of Tucson to receive the appropriation to build the university. Tucson had hoped to receive the appropriation for the territory's mental hospital, which carried a $100,000 allocation instead of the $25,000 allotted to the territory's only university (Arizona State University was also chartered in 1885, but at the time it was created as Arizona's normal school, and not a university). Tucson's contingent of legislators was delayed in reaching Prescott due to flooding on the Salt River and by the time they arrived back-room deals allocating the most desirable territorial institutions had already been made. Tucson was largely disappointed at receiving what was viewed as an inferior prize. With no parties willing to step forth and provide land for the new institution, the citizens of Tucson prepared to return the money to the Territorial Legislature until two gamblers and a saloon keeper decided to donate the land necessary to build the school. Construction of Old Main, the first building on Campus, began on October 27, 1887, and classes met for the first time in 1891 with 32 students in Old Main, which is still in use to this day. Because there were no high schools in Arizona Territory, the University maintained separate preparatory classes for the first 23 years of operation.

Academics

The University of Arizona offers 334 fields of study leading to bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. Academic departments and programs are organized into colleges and schools. Currently, grades are given on a strict 4-point scale with "A" worth 4, "B" worth 3, "C" worth 2, "D" worth 1 and "E" worth zero points. In 2004, there were discussions with students and faculty that may lead the UA towards eventual usage of the plus-minus grading system in future years. As of December 2015, the university still uses the 4-points scale.

Rankings

The Center for World University Rankings in 2015 ranked Arizona 68th in the world and 42nd in the U.S. The 2015-16 Times Higher Education World University Rankings rated University of Arizona 163rd in the world and the 2015/16 QS World University Ra ... [more on wikipedia]

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

University of Arizona Details

University of Arizona Details
detail value
stateArizona
conferencePacific 12 Conference
publicPublic
scores1642/1094/25
levelAverage
rank[124
overall ROI rank[86
sizelarge
undergrads32987
grads9249
price43621
drop36
stem26
research608
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for University of Arizona?

1. number 124 for Academics.

2. number 86 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to University of Arizona?

1. Texas Tech University

2. Michigan State University

3. Florida International University

4. Georgia State University

5. University of Utah

6. Oregon State University

7. Washington State University



National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

University of Arizona National Academic Rankings

University of Arizona National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Top2501242312501139853367886
All Nonivy96100100817841284175
Div16592100736432294353
Div1 Nonivy5990100655624214148
Div1 Public4866100484518163638
Public5590100585125163746
Power5435668484322193338
Stem Low7299100666136315570
Pacific - 12 Conference81015888555
South West Region182976108613217
State of Arizona239221132
Top Ten Top2501242312501139853367886
Top Ten Pacific - 12 Conference8810887546
Top Ten State of Arizona239221132


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

University of Arizona Peer Universities, Similar Universities to University of Arizona

University of Arizona Peer Universities, Similar Universities to University of Arizona
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
92.45
Texas Tech UniversityTexasBig Twelve ConferencePublicAverage176104
92.34
Michigan State UniversityMichiganBig Ten ConferencePublicAverage11174
92.03
Florida International UniversityFloridaConference USAPublicAverage163170
91.79
Georgia State UniversityGeorgiaSun Belt ConferencePublicAverage253230
91.50
University of UtahUtahPacific 12 ConferencePublicAboveAverage14286
91.50
Oregon State UniversityOregonPacific 12 ConferencePublicAverage152202
91.49
Washington State UniversityWashingtonPacific 12 ConferencePublicAverage189193
91.23
West Virginia UniversityWest VirginiaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAverage320192
91.22
Indiana University-Purdue University-IndianapolisIndianaThe Summit LeaguePublicAverage427342
91.16
University of KentuckyKentuckySoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage159130
86.66
Florida State UniversityFloridaAtlantic Coast ConferencePublicAboveAverage76104
86.40
California State University-Long BeachCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAverage318387
86.37
Rutgers University-New BrunswickNew JerseyBig Ten ConferencePublicAboveAverage56115
86.00
Brigham Young University-IdahoIdahoNo Conference AffiliationPrivateAverage312164
85.84
Iowa State UniversityIowaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAboveAverage12971
85.74
San Diego State UniversityCaliforniaMountain West ConferencePublicAverage183218
85.59
University of Missouri-ColumbiaMissouriSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage12198
85.50
Arizona State University-TempeArizonaPacific 12 ConferencePublicAboveAverage10182
85.42
Pennsylvania State UniversityPennsylvaniaBig Ten ConferencePublicAboveAverage5384
85.39
San Jose State UniversityCaliforniaMountain West ConferencePublicAverage386389
85.37
University of Colorado BoulderColoradoPacific 12 ConferencePublicAboveAverage7959
85.17
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical CollegeLouisianaSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage14888
85.15
Florida Atlantic UniversityFloridaConference USAPublicAverage305303
84.95
University of California-IrvineCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAboveAverage108162
84.91
University of CincinnatiOhioAmerican Athletic ConferencePublicAboveAverage202106
84.78
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginiaAtlantic 10 ConferencePublicAboveAverage178207
84.77
Colorado State University-Fort CollinsColoradoMountain West ConferencePublicAboveAverage143139
84.77
Kennesaw State UniversityGeorgiaAtlantic Sun ConferencePublicAverage290291
84.67
Texas A & M University-College StationTexasSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage7122
84.52
George Mason UniversityVirginiaAtlantic 10 ConferencePublicAboveAverage156143
84.50
University of Massachusetts-AmherstMassachusettsMid - American Conference / At...PublicAboveAverage88144
84.50
East Carolina UniversityNorth CarolinaAmerican Athletic ConferencePublicAverage312325
84.49
University of North Carolina at CharlotteNorth CarolinaDivision I-AA Independents / C...PublicAverage292207
83.80
University of California-RiversideCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAverage167212
83.29
University of California-Santa CruzCaliforniaDivision III IndependentsPublicAverage157208
82.85
University of Hawaii at ManoaHawaiiMountain West Conference / Big...PublicAverage204245
82.59
University of New HampshireNew HampshireColonial Athletic Association ...PublicAverage221225
82.45
North Dakota State UniversityNorth DakotaMissouri Valley Conference / T...PublicAverage261196
82.36
University of Alabama at BirminghamAlabamaConference USAPublicAboveAverage153148
81.89
University of MaineMaineAtlantic 10 Conference / Ameri...PublicAverage248245
79.51
California State University-NorthridgeCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicBelowAverage459474
78.74
California State University-SacramentoCaliforniaBig Sky ConferencePublicBelowAverage453472
78.58
San Francisco State UniversityCaliforniaCalifornia Collegiate Athletic...PublicBelowAverage428458
78.14
University of Nevada-Las VegasNevadaMountain West ConferencePublicBelowAverage421449
77.92
University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeWisconsinHorizon LeaguePublicBelowAverage420367
77.74
University of New MexicoNew MexicoMountain West ConferencePublicAverage265153
77.71
The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleTennesseeSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage116188
77.58
University of Oklahoma-Norman CampusOklahomaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAboveAverage13754
77.57
Oklahoma State UniversityOklahomaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAverage182124
77.51
Central Michigan UniversityMichiganMid American ConferencePublicBelowAverage454402


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

University of Arizona Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to University of Arizona

University of Arizona Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to University of Arizona
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
97.98
Florida International UniversityFloridaConference USAPublicAverage163170
96.91
Oregon State UniversityOregonPacific 12 ConferencePublicAverage152202
96.60
University of California-Santa CruzCaliforniaDivision III IndependentsPublicAverage157208
95.91
Michigan State UniversityMichiganBig Ten ConferencePublicAverage11174
95.56
Colorado State University-Fort CollinsColoradoMountain West ConferencePublicAboveAverage143139
95.26
University of UtahUtahPacific 12 ConferencePublicAboveAverage14286
94.28
University at BuffaloNew YorkMid American ConferencePublicAboveAverage124190
93.42
University of California-IrvineCaliforniaBig West ConferencePublicAboveAverage108162
93.42
Iowa State UniversityIowaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAboveAverage12971
93.28
Arizona State University-TempeArizonaPacific 12 ConferencePublicAboveAverage10182
92.84
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical CollegeLouisianaSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage14888
92.44
University of Oklahoma-Norman CampusOklahomaBig Twelve ConferencePublicAboveAverage13754
92.34
University of Missouri-Kansas CityMissouriWestern Athletic ConferencePublicAboveAverage197155
91.87
Michigan Technological UniversityMichiganGreat Lakes Intercollegiate At...PublicAboveAverage14658
91.80
Marquette UniversityWisconsinBig East ConferencePrivateAboveAverage197121
91.07
University of Alabama at BirminghamAlabamaConference USAPublicAboveAverage153148
91.07
University of Missouri-ColumbiaMissouriSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage12198
91.07
The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleTennesseeSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage116188
90.88
Auburn UniversityAlabamaSoutheastern ConferencePublicAboveAverage13979
90.88
Southeastern Conference (Low)-Southeastern Conference-Conf-AboveAverage-115
90.45
Clemson UniversitySouth CarolinaAtlantic Coast ConferencePublicAboveAverage9851
90.22
University of VermontVermontAmerica EastPublicAboveAverage136191
90.07
University of Nebraska-LincolnNebraskaBig Ten ConferencePublicAboveAverage11998
90.07
University of DelawareDelawareColonial Athletic AssociationPublicAboveAverage107138
89.19
University of Massachusetts-AmherstMassachusettsMid - American Conference / At...PublicAboveAverage88144
89.00
Drexel UniversityPennsylvaniaColonial Athletic AssociationPrivateAboveAverage120134
87.45
Yeshiva UniversityNew YorkSkyline ConferencePrivateGood141208
87.45
University of Maryland-Baltimore CountyMarylandAmerica EastPublicAboveAverage130174
86.00
Miami University-OxfordOhioMid American ConferencePublicGood11867
85.09
Missouri University of Science and TechnologyMissouriGreat Lakes Valley ConferencePublicGood10532
85.01
Baylor UniversityTexasBig Twelve ConferencePrivateGood134128
83.85
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoCaliforniaBig Sky Conference / Big West ...PublicGood9688
83.63
Atlantic 10 Conference (Average)-Atlantic 10 Conference-Conf-Good-158
83.01
United States Naval AcademyMarylandDivision I Independents / Patr...PublicExcellent12648
82.92
Fordham UniversityNew YorkPatriot League / Atlantic 10 C...PrivateGood109167
82.88
Illinois Institute of TechnologyIllinoisDivision III IndependentsPrivateGood12255
82.85
Santa Clara UniversityCaliforniaWest Coast ConferencePrivateExcellent12398
80.66
Colorado CollegeColoradoSouthern Collegiate Athletic C...PrivateExcellent149160
79.74
SUNY College at GeneseoNew YorkState University of New York A...PublicExcellent111184
78.56
Davidson CollegeNorth CarolinaPioneer Football League / Atla...PrivateExcellent155129
78.46
University of RichmondVirginiaColonial Athletic Association ...PrivateExcellent128150
77.96
Whitman CollegeWashingtonNorthwest ConferencePrivateExcellent153154
77.73
Colby CollegeMaineNew England Small College Ath ConfPrivateExcellent132155
77.42
Hamilton CollegeNew YorkNew England Small College Ath ConfPrivateElite115153
77.03
Kenyon CollegeOhioNorth Coast Athletic ConferencePrivateExcellent14791
76.31
Grinnell CollegeIowaMidwest ConferencePrivateExcellent114123
76.04
Colgate UniversityNew YorkPatriot LeaguePrivateExcellent9283
75.52
Washington and Lee UniversityVirginiaOld Dominion Athletic ConferencePrivateElite11746
75.49
Scripps CollegeCaliforniaSouthern California Intercoll ...PrivateElite127204