This maybe pointless questions but I am curious. I have seen some schools ranked by US News and World Report as: Natl 4th tier. Others: MWest 3rd tier. Which would be a better classification? Why are some schools ranked regionally and others nationally? Would it be better to go to a Mwest 3rd tier school or a national 4th tier school? Just curious about what the rankings really mean. As always, thanks for the info.
The natioanl rankings cover major univeristies that offer several docotral degrees and are compard (bu USNews) to each other. The regional rankings are the rest of the pack, whoe do not offer a conphrensive spectrrum, or more than a couple of doctoral programs (I do not remeber what the cut off number is, I think it is around 4 (eg if you offer more than 4 docotroal degrees in several areas then you go national otherwise regional)). The regional are then ranked in their own region. To make it more complicated, some specialty schools that only are in one are (say engineering) are not compared to other schools at all. What really matters (IMO) is how the program you are interested in suits your needs and compares to other similar programs. If you are intestested in mechnaical engineering (for example) why worry about schools that do not even offer that degree.
The U.S. News rankings can be a useful tool to identify schools of interest. But please note that these rankings are based on a combination of objective (e.g. graduation rates) and subjective (e.g. opinions of college administrators) data. Another difficulty is one that you have identified. Since the "national" and "regional" rankings do not use the same formula, is makes direct comparisions of schools valid only with categories (but not between them). Is a "4th tier" national doctoral school better than a "3rd tier" masters? The answer is: "It depends". The other issue is that the schools are judged on some very global issues that affect the institution as a whole, but may have little to do with the program in which you are interested. It is entirely possible that a certain "4th tier" school may have a better program in your area of interest than a certain "2nd tier" school (or maybe even a "1st tier"). Another issue entirely is that the U.S. News rankings apply only to undergraduate programs, so if you are looking for a masters or doctoral program, their rankings may be completely irrelevant. US News does publish a graduate edition that covers a few areas, including business, law, medicine and education. To summarize: Use the U.S. News rankings as one of several reference tools. It is decent, but is not without its deficiencies. Degreeinfo is also a useful tool. Tony Pina Coordinator of Learning Technologies Northeastern Illinois University
If you want to look at rankings, try a journal or magazine in the subject you are pursuing. For example, Entrepreneur Magazine has an annual list of the top 100 schools in entrepreneurship. Even they have categories for national and regional schools. I was glad that the program that I am enrolled in was on the list. Especially since it has only been around for a couple of years. If you are looking at an BBA or MBA in entrepreneurship any school on the list would be a good place to start. I don't put much weight in the national vs regional rankings. I look at the schools that apply to me and then investigate each of them to find the school that suits me the best.
