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 Oregon

2016 University Academic Rankings

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The University of Oregon (also referred to as UO or Oregon) is a public flagship research university located in Eugene, Oregon. UO was founded in 1876. The institution's campus is 295 acres in size and is situated along the Willamette River. Since July 2014, UO has been governed by the Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon. The university has a Carnegie Classification of "highest research activity" and has 21 research centers and institutes. UO was admitted to the Association of American Universities in 1969.

UO offers 316 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The university is organized into eight colleges: the Robert D. Clark Honors College (the oldest honors college in the United States), the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business, the College of Education, the School of Journalism and Communication, the School of Law, and the School of Music and Dance. Additionally, the Graduate School oversees the university's graduate and certificate programs.

UO student-athletes compete as the Ducks and are part of the Pac-12 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). With eighteen varsity teams, the Oregon Ducks are best known for their football team and track and field program. The strength of the track program, as well as its connection to Nike, has helped make Eugene become known as "Track Town, USA".

History | Early years

The Oregon State Legislature established the university on October 12, 1872, despite the new state's funding woes. The residents of Eugene struggled to help finance the institution, holding numerous fundraising events such as strawberry festivals, church socials, and produce sales. In total they raised $27,500, enough to buy eighteen acres of land at a cost of $2,500. The doors officially opened in 1876 with the name of Oregon State University and Deady Hall as its sole building. The first year of enrollment contained 155 students taught by five faculty members. The first graduating class was in 1878, graduating five students. In 1881, the university was nearly closed; it was $8,000 in debt before Henry Villard donated $7,000 to help pay for the debt. In 1913, and again in 1932, there were proposals to merge the university with what is now Oregon State University. Both proposals were defeated.

Maturity as a university

During Prince Lucien Campbell's tenure as president from 1902 to 1925, the university experienced tremendous growth compared to its early years. The budget, enrollment, facilities, and faculty members all grew several times its amount prior to his presidency. Numerous schools were also established during his tenure, including the School of Music in 1902, the School of Education in 1910, the School of Architecture, the College of Business in 1914, the School of Law in 1915, the School of Journalism in 1916, and the School of Health and Physical Education in 1920.

The Zorn-MacPherson Bill in 1932 proposed that the University of Oregon and Oregon State College (now "University"), to be merged into one university. The bill lost in a landslide vote of over 6 to 1. The University of Oregon Medical School was originally founded in 1887 in Portland and later merged with Willamette University's program in 1913. However, in 1974 it officially became an independent institution known as Oregon Health Sciences University. In 1969, the UO was admitted into the Association of American Universities.

With financial support from the state dwindling from 40% to 13% of the university budget, in January 2001, University President Dave Frohnmayer began Campaign Oregon with the goal of raising $600 million by Decembe ... [more on wikipedia]

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

University of Oregon Details

Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for University of Oregon?

1. number 174 for Academics.

2. number 221 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to University of Oregon?

1. University of Arkansas

2. University of Delaware

3. University of Mississippi

4. Utah State University

5. University of South Carolina-Columbia

6. University of Missouri-Columbia

7. CUNY Bernard M Baruch College



National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

University of Oregon National Academic Rankings



Peer Universities / Similar Universities

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

University of Oregon Peer Universities, Similar Universities to University of Oregon



Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

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