US NEWS America's Best Colleges (UL Tier 4)

[NewsCopy]

 

University of Louisiana at La.

[CajunCharlie]

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Define Tier 4, please!

[sleepophile]

Define Tier 4, please!

It's a pretty complicated scoring system , where they factor in a lot of stuff (grants, graduation rate ,class size ,research etc.) . For comparison , some of the other schools in tier 4 are Houston , fiu, fau , southern miss . Their rankings have been pretty controversial in the past and should be taken with a grain of salt. Computer Science /Physics/Nursing would probably be rated pretty high , but some of the other departments are probably rated lower and hence the tier 4 rating. These are all things I've heard from a professor at UL ,so take them as you will..

[Simba23]

_ It's a pretty complicated scoring system , where they factor in a lot of stuff (grants, graduation rate ,class size ,research etc.) . For comparison , some of the other schools in tier 4 are Houston , fiu, fau , southern miss . Their rankings have been pretty controversial in the past and should be taken with a grain of salt. Computer Science /Physics/Nursing would probably be rated pretty high , but some of the other departments are probably rated lower and hence the tier 4 rating. These are all things I've heard from a professor at UL ,so take them as you will.. _

McNeese is also a Tier 4..

[Zeebart21]

McNeese is also a Tier 4..

Not quite the same, Simba. You guys are Tier 4 in the Masters Category, while UL is tier 4 in the National category.

Masters Category tends to offer few, if any doctoral programs. The universities in this category are ranked within four geographic areas—North, South, Midwest, and West—because, in general, they tend to draw students heavily from surrounding states.

Those in the National category have doctoral programs, many strongly emphasizing research. These tend to draw students nationally and internationally.

Nonetheless, Tier 4 is Bullcr*p for both schools. Time to bump this mutha up to at least a 3!

Z

[rhineaux]

_ Define Tier 4, please! _

These "tiers" are broken up to divide all universities into quarters. by saying that we're a Tier 4 school, its saying that we're in the bottom 25% of all universities.

If you go read their qualifications and how they rank schools, then you'll understand it better. You'll also understand that unless a school has a lot of money they won't be too high, so its not suprising. many of the qualifications for being ranked high are geared to make bigger, wealthier schools look better.

[DestinCajun]

_ These "tiers" are broken up to divide all universities into quarters. by saying that we're a Tier 4 school, its saying that we're in the bottom 25% of all universities.

This is in no way a bad thing and it does not include "all" universities. My concern is the quality of info they post on UL, e.g. the size of the endowment and the number of students enrolled. Neither seem correct to me and if they aren't correct then I question what else is correct or incorrect.

Lest we forget - US News & World Reports is in the business of selling copies of its magazine and in that regard, it is not unlike the summer football magazines that feature the BCS programs but very little on everyone else.

[rhineaux]

_ This is in no way a bad thing and it does not include "all" universities. My concern is the quality of info they post on UL, e.g. the size of the endowment and the number of students enrolled. Neither seem correct to me and if they aren't correct then I question what else is correct or incorrect.

Lest we forget - US News & World Reports is in the business of selling copies of its magazine and in that regard, it is not unlike the summer football magazines that feature the BCS programs but very little on everyone else. _

From what I've heard, they do no investigative reporting for this magazine, and honestly, it would be pretty hard for them to with there being so many schools. All of their info is based on what the schools sends them and how the school answers the questionnaire they are sent by the magazine. If the school doesn't fill out the whole thing, or doesn't give them all the info that is requested, then they fail. Just like in a test in school, you aren't judged only on the questions you answer, but on all questions, and any you don't answer are marked wrong.

[DestinCajun]

_ From what I've heard, they do no investigative reporting for this magazine, and honestly, it would be pretty hard for them to with there being so many schools. All of their info is based on what the schools sends them and how the school answers the questionnaire they are sent by the magazine. If the school doesn't fill out the whole thing, or doesn't give them all the info that is requested, then they fail. Just like in a test in school, you aren't judged only on the questions you answer, but on all questions, and any you don't answer are marked wrong. _

And so, it is what it is.

Just so we all know what goes into it.

I think I noticed Nevada is unrated. They must not have sent in a completed questionaire.

[CajunCharlie]

Thanks for the info. There seems to be a "barn yard odor" to the means by which Universities/Schools are rated.

[DestinCajun]

Thanks for the info. There seems to be a "barn yard odor" to the means by which Universities/Schools are rated. _

Can you imagine you're one of those schools that charges $40-50,000 a year in tuition and USN&WR did not rate you in the top tier. Could result in bloodshed or worse, law suits.

[CajunCharlie]

_ Can you imagine you're one of those schools that charges $40-50,000 a year in tuition and USN&WR did not rate you in the top tier. Could result in bloodshed or worse, law suits. _

And cancelled subscriptions!