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

State of New Hampshire University Academic Rankings

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examples: Yale "Wake Forest" "Big Ten" TX NC

2016 New Hampshire University Academic Rankings

2016 New Hampshire University Academic Rankings
rank value image public university state conference scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research r pop r stem r other salary ROI overall ROI scores value difficulty value smartest value brainpower value faculty value research value salary ROI value overall ROI value scores level stem drop gpa avg research undergrads grads salary price scores valid
11.00
PrivateDartmouth CollegeNew HampshireIvy League111111111112195|911.43|642189|912116|8829|911.00|991439514|721.00|992195/1463/33Elite2043.42217428920095630065133True
22.33
PublicUniversity of New HampshireNew HampshireColonial Athletic Association ...322322222321640|682.69|331839|771624|68120|602.00|981106341|552.50|981640/1093/25Average18222.801411283122864680043730True
33.50
PrivateSaint Anselm CollegeNew HampshireNortheast 10 Conference236433333221715|712.73|321030|431194|50300|03.00|971132555|572.50|981715/1143/26AboveAverage11272.950196804960052086True
44.17
PrivateSouthern New Hampshire UniversityNew HampshireNortheast 10 Conference773233333751445|603.00|251831|761746|73300|03.00|97856786|435.50|951445/963/22BelowAverage4382.80029353139214330045278True
54.48
PublicKeene State CollegeNew HampshireLittle East Conference554533333441465|612.96|261478|621131|47300|03.00|97956309|484.50|961465/977/22BelowAverage17422.80048361214190032902True
65.01
PublicUniversity of New Hampshire at ManchesterNew HampshireNo Conference Affiliation447733333881515|632.85|29630|26790|33300|03.00|97830485|427.00|931515/1010/23Average27412.80077575465000True
75.89
PublicPlymouth State UniversityNew HampshireMassachusetts State College At...885633333661435|603.00|251354|561014|42300|03.00|97870951|446.50|941435/957/22BelowAverage12402.800375610994090034763True
86.17
PrivateFranklin Pierce UniversityNew HampshireOther / Northeast 10 Conference668833333561450|602.98|26500|21721|30300|03.00|97882035|446.50|941450/967/22BelowAverage15492.80017335424270047142True
97.58
PrivateRivier UniversityNew HampshireGreat Northeast Athletic Conference999933333991405|593.04|24410|17635|26300|03.00|97518483|269.00|911405/937/21BelowAverage8462.80015268233190043282True

Common Questions...

What are the best colleges in New Hampshire?

1. Dartmouth College

2. University of New Hampshire

3. Saint Anselm College

4. Southern New Hampshire University

5. Keene State College

6. University of New Hampshire at Manchester

7. Plymouth State University

2016 New Hampshire University Academic Rankings

2016 New Hampshire University Academic Rankings
rank value public name state conference scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI scores level stem drop gpa avg research undergrads grads salary price
11.00PrivateDartmouth CollegeNew HampshireIvy League111111112195/1463/33Elite2043.42217428920095630065133
22.33PublicUniversity of New HampshireNew HampshireColonial Athletic Association ...322322321640/1093/25Average18222.801411283122864680043730
33.50PrivateSaint Anselm CollegeNew HampshireNortheast 10 Conference236433221715/1143/26AboveAverage11272.950196804960052086
44.17PrivateSouthern New Hampshire UniversityNew HampshireNortheast 10 Conference773233751445/963/22BelowAverage4382.80029353139214330045278
54.48PublicKeene State CollegeNew HampshireLittle East Conference554533441465/977/22BelowAverage17422.80048361214190032902
65.01PublicUniversity of New Hampshire at ManchesterNew HampshireNo Conference Affiliation447733881515/1010/23Average27412.80077575465000
75.89PublicPlymouth State UniversityNew HampshireMassachusetts State College At...885633661435/957/22BelowAverage12402.800375610994090034763
86.17PrivateFranklin Pierce UniversityNew HampshireOther / Northeast 10 Conference668833561450/967/22BelowAverage15492.80017335424270047142
97.58PrivateRivier UniversityNew HampshireGreat Northeast Athletic Conference999933991405/937/21BelowAverage8462.80015268233190043282