I found an interesting website that places all the colleges and universities in the United States into different Tiers. It says my undergraduate school is in the third Tier. Interesting. I didn't take the time to see where some of the RA online schools are (I've got to log-off now). If you want to search through their database on all kinds of information about all the different schools, then click on "college" in the upper left hand side of the screen. The website is here
The ranking of US colleges by US News and World Report has been discussed extensively here and in AED. There are National Tiers and Regional Tiers. Some RA-DL schools are not even ranked. Those that were ranked are not in the top tiers.
Both my schools are Tier 2. O, then again, there is my (whispering this one) Southwest U MBA. Tier 10, I believe.
Interesting topic. My undergraduate school was tired of MacLean's ranking and decided to adjust a couple of small areas which would boost their standing. They at first apparently ignored the ranking but then I guess decided they had to play along in order to compete. There certainly are merits to the system. However, controversy is created in cases like NSU which is stuck in the 4th tier. Incidentally, Oral Roberts University is a second tier school. Probably not undeserved. Their teachers come in tops in the state teachers exam. As I understand it they beat all other OK schools. At any rate, so many factors are invovled in tier selection beyond mere academic prowess. North
One of U.S. News and World Report’s own internal documents clearly states that their rankings are all but irrelevant to distance learning students. In 1997, the U.S. News and World Report commissioned a report from the National Opinion Research Center examining their methodology for the ranking of undergraduate colleges and universities. The report, which U.S. News and World Report largely chose to ignore, is critical of the ranking methodology in general, and can be accessed here. The NORC report is considered one of the most detailed examinations of the U.S. News rankings, and the following quotes are worthy of mention. “We note, however, that the U.S. News ratings are developed for traditional students entering college shortly after high school, that is, students 18 to 24 who attend full time and may have applied to and chosen among several institutions. Thus, this discussion is about criteria for such traditional students. We believe it is impossible to rate institutions with the same set of indicators for both traditional and nontraditional students. As the proportion of nontraditional students attending higher education institutions grows, U.S. News might want to consider developing a separate rating system and publishing a separate guide for nontraditional students.” “The principal weakness of the current approach is that the weights used to combine the various measures into an overall rating lack any defensible empirical or theoretical basis.” “ Apart from the weights, however, we were disturbed by how little was known about the statistical properties of the measures or how knowledge of these properties might be used in creating the measures.”
Re: Re: What Tier is Your College In? One of U.S. News and World Report’s own internal documents clearly states that their rankings are all but irrelevant to distance learning students. In 1997, the U.S. News and World Report commissioned a report from the National Opinion Research Center examining their methodology for the ranking of undergraduate colleges and universities. The report, which U.S. News and World Report largely chose to ignore, is critical of the ranking methodology in general, and can be accessed here. The NORC report is considered one of the most detailed examinations of the U.S. News rankings, and the following quotes are worthy of mention. “We note, however, that the U.S. News ratings are developed for traditional students entering college shortly after high school, that is, students 18 to 24 who attend full time and may have applied to and chosen among several institutions. Thus, this discussion is about criteria for such traditional students. We believe it is impossible to rate institutions with the same set of indicators for both traditional and nontraditional students. As the proportion of nontraditional students attending higher education institutions grows, U.S. News might want to consider developing a separate rating system and publishing a separate guide for nontraditional students.” “The principal weakness of the current approach is that the weights used to combine the various measures into an overall rating lack any defensible empirical or theoretical basis.” “ Apart from the weights, however, we were disturbed by how little was known about the statistical properties of the measures or how knowledge of these properties might be used in creating the measures.”
As Gus Sainz and others have pointed out, US News ranking can be considered irrelavant for DL students, BUT, when going to use your DL degree others will probably compare the school to other schools. A masters or doctoral degree from a low ranked school will not be as well thought of as from a hihger ranked school. In my own contiuing saga of looking for a doctoral program it is one factor I am considering. My ideal choice will be a close fit in program to my desires, price, and ranking in that order. Unfortunately the closest fit, lowest priced, highest ranking program is not DL (and is very poor at returning contacts). The next best fit, is okay price wise (but talking of a major increase) and is low ranked, the next best is not as good a fit but is well priced and is well ranked. Ah well, finish this major work project, take the GRE and then see what my choices are.
