Universities Weblog

(Source: University of Akron)As I've documented already, applications to full-time business-school programs continue to drop. Top schools don't have to worry about filling seats, but second- and third-tier schools face stiff competition, or worse—irrelevancy.

In response, many of them are creating M.B.A. programs focused on particular market niches, such as arts administration, real estate and sports management. Here's the thinking: If you want a general M.B.A., go to a top school, where the value of the degree will land you a job. But if you want to specialize in a specific field—say, health care—then choose a program targeting that industry.

It's good thinking, though not altogether novel. Higher education has always practiced replication but prized innovation. Look at law schools, for instance. Most have similar courses, teaching methods and program parameters, but every so often we'll read about something new—such as a two-year degree. Sadly, it's a risk only the more marginal schools are willing to take.

Now marginal b-schools are experimenting with market niches. Some call it daring; others call it survival.

(Source: University of Pennsylvania)So we've finally cracked the top five in our list of America's best universities. Let's meet the pinky.

#5: University of PennsylvaniaBefore we begin, let me offer a massive disclaimer: I graduated from Penn with a B.A. in american history, so my comments may be considered biased. That said, I rank a few competitors above my alma mater, so I think I'm being as objective as possible.In any case…

Anyone who has watched U.S. News' rankings closely over the years has seen Penn rise from the teens to as high as number four, where it currently stands. A remarkable achievement, one would think, or at least a testament to the university's commitment to playing the rankings game. But I'll suggest another take: Penn is finally getting the recognition it has long deserved.

The university has always been strong in many areas. Certainly the Wharton School of Business tops that list. Its undergraduate program is the best in the business, so to speak, and its M.B.A. program is rivaled by only one or two others. The schools of law, medicine, nursing, and veterinary medicine are excellent, as is the Annenberg School of Communications. And in arts and sciences, the departments of anthropology, history, economics and psychology have traditionally been outstanding.

More broadly, Penn's reputation has been forged in two ways. First, its professional schools have outshone its undergraduate program. Second, it was for years a second or third (or fourth or fifth) option among Ivy applicants. I think it's clear that neither is true anymore. Penn is now the college of choice for thousands of students, and its undergrads are as talented as you'll find anywhere.

Why fifth? The university still has to shore up some weaknesses; excellence doesn't hold across the board. Its schools of education and engineering, while very good, aren't in the same league as some others. A few departments, such as political science, haven't measured up either. A Ph.D. from Penn will get you a faculty job, but it doesn't carry quite the same cachet as those from other elite institutions.

To be sure, critiquing the top five amounts to nitpicking, but we have to draw distinctions somehow. In my opinion, Penn has done well to merit this high ranking, but there's still room for improvement.

That's why it ranks fifth.

(Source: University of Vermont)Tired of college guides? Didn't think so.

Let's take a peek at Newsweek. Together with Kaplan, the magazine offers advice on college admissions, with articles on applying early, coping with wait lists, getting the most out of college tours, legacy preferences, application essays, and transfer admissions. You'll also find fun pieces such as "America's 25 Hot Schools" and "Not All Courses are Serious Business."

For a true inside look at the admissions process, check out this Q&A with Penn's dean of admissions. And stay tuned for similar conversations with reps from Yale and the University of California.

Finally, those about to embark on their college careers (next week!) should browse the section on campus life, which features articles on roommate selection, alcohol abuse, protecting computer data, and everyone's favorite topic, parking on campus.

Enjoy.

(Source: University of Wisconsin)We're on a roll with rankings, so let's keep it going. Today the Princeton Review released its new rankings of colleges, which evaluate academics, social life, demographics and political leanings, to name a few categories. Best professors? St. John's College. Happiest students? Stanford. Most diverse campus? George Mason.

Best party school? Wisconsin-Madison. Prefer reefer over Rolling Rock? Try Hampshire College.

Rankings are based on student surveys, so the Review's system isn't exactly scientific. But the results do reflect some level of popular opinion, for what that's worth.

In any case, check out the site and draw your own conclusions.

(Source: Colby College)Another week, another college rankings guide. This time it's Washington Monthly, which just released its first rankings issue, obviously timed to contrast with U.S. News' annual beauty contest. The magazine has taken a page from JFK, asking not what universities can do for you but what they can do for their country. Witness:

The first question we asked was, what does America need from its universities? From this starting point, we came up with three central criteria: Universities should be engines of social mobility, they should produce the academic minds and scientific research that advance knowledge and drive economic growth; and they should inculcate and encourage an ethic of service. We designed our evaluation system accordingly.More specifically, the magazine measured community service, research and social mobility to arrive at its results, though the editors admit many data weren't readily available. (You can read more about their methodology here.)

So what were the top ten universities and liberal arts colleges? Have a look:

National Universities1. MIT
2. UCLA
3. California-Berkeley
4. Cornell
5. Stanford
6. Penn State
7. Texas A&M
8. UC-San Diego
9. Pennsylvania
10. Michigan

Liberal Arts Colleges1. Wellesley
2. Wesleyan
3. Bryn Mawr
4. Harvey Mudd
5. Fisk
6. Amherst
7. Haverford
8. Wofford
9. Colby
10. Spelman

Reference my U.S. News rankings below to see obvious differences between the lists. For national universities, Princeton ties for first in U.S. News, while it doesn't appear in the top ten here. It actually ranks 44th. First-place Williams ranks 14th in this list of liberal arts colleges.

Will anyone care? Perhaps leaders of those institutions which don't fare well in U.S. News will find something to trumpet in these revamped rankings.

(Source: Williams College)U.S. News released its 2006 rankings of colleges and universities today. The highly-anticipated issue will surely accomplish two things, as always. First, it will sell plenty of copies. And second, it will enrage higher education leaders, especially those who believe they should rank higher (while discrediting the notion of rankings altogether). Here, then, are the magazine's conclusions:

National Universities1. Harvard
1. Princeton (tie)
3. Yale
4. Pennsylvania
5. Duke
5. Stanford (tie)
7. Caltech
7. MIT (tie)
9. Columbia
9. Dartmouth (tie)

Liberal Arts Colleges1. Williams
2. Amherst
3. Swarthmore
4. Wellesley
5. Carleton
6. Bowdoin
6. Pomona (tie)
8. Haverford
8. Middlebury (tie)
10. Claremont McKenna
10. Davidson (tie)

You can also find rankings of master's degree universities, undergraduate business and engineering programs, and comprehensive colleges, as well as sub-categories for each section.

Happy comparison shopping.

(Source: UC-Berkeley)Moving along our tour of the 10 best American universities, we arrive at number six. Here we find the first—and only—public institution on the list. Consider my Bias, perhaps, but private universities dominate this list, as they do in many others. And to me, one public stands far above the rest. Let's meet it.

#6: The University of California, BerkeleyHippies, tie-dyes, sit-ins, free-speech rallies, long hair and the Grateful Dead. All describe the University of California, Berkeley. Oh, wait…I'm thinking of the 1960s, not today. Then again, many people still identify Berkeley with that period.

Today's Berkeley is, of course, radically different. It's far more diverse, far less politically-charged, and no longer the bellwether for liberal causes. One element, though, still remains: academic excellence. Unlike some other top institutions, Berkeley displays strength not through its array of professional schools but through arts and sciences departments. English, classics, chemistry, history and political science, to name a few, are all exceptional. On the professional side, engineering stands out, as do the schools of law (Boalt Hall) and education, while business (Haas School) is good but not stellar. Berkeley has no school of medicine.

Like Chicago, which I ranked seventh, Berkeley has a very good but not elite undergraduate division. The university certainly attracts the best and brightest California kids, and does draw nationally and internationally. But about 90 percent of the entering class comes from in-state, so its talent pool is, relatively speaking, limited. Don't misunderstand—admission is very competitive. Yet it's not as competitive as it is for some Ivies and Stanford. And the undergraduate Berkeley has never been comparable to the graduate Berkeley.

That's why it ranks sixth.

(Source: Arcadia University)Listen up, college presidents. Are your enrollments low? Not getting the best students? Fund raising lagging? No problem. Just change your name to something more marketable, and things will improve. Trust me.

For proof, ask the folks at Arcadia University. Who? You know, the former Beaver College, famous for its study abroad programs and, oh yeah, a name synonymous with a slang term heard in junior high school gyms across the country. Evidently tired of being the butt of jokes, Beaver changed its name to Arcadia in 2001. "Arcadia University is a name fitting of the caliber of our students, alumni, faculty, staff and programs," says President Bette E. Landman on the college's website. "Our new name reflects our foundation and the kind of learning environment we aim to foster." Alrightythen.

But Arcadia isn't alone. Western Maryland College recently became McDaniel College. Trenton State College became the College of New Jersey. The University of Southern Colorado became Colorado State University at Pueblo. And the New School for Social Research became New School University before deciding to call itself, simply, the New School. One wonders how long an institution can call itself "new." Anyhow, consider this from the New York Times:

The New School is also surrendering to common usage, but there is more to its realignment of names. Mr. Kerrey, a former United States senator from Nebraska, said that when he became the university's president four years ago, the board told him to try to unify the university's disparate components. These include the Parsons School of Design, the Mannes College of Music, the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science and five other colleges.

"It's not a pizza business, but we do think of our students as our most important customers. And if they are unclear about who we are, then we run the risk that we might lose potential students."He's right—it's not a pizza business. No one in the pizza business would contrive a name as silly as Mannes College The New School for Music. That's enough to give me acid reflux and push my application in another direction.

(Source: University of Chicago)We're up to number seven in our countdown of the 10 best American universities, as determined solely by my completely subjective opinions formed over many years. I offer no scientific formulas for reaching these conclusions, nor have I crunched any numbers and spit out some statistically justifiable order. Nonetheless, we all have views on such matters, and these are mine. Without further adieu, let's visit the next university.

#7: The University of ChicagoEggheads of the world, unite. Actually they do in Hyde Park, home to the University of Chicago. Known for academic rigor and a no-nonsense approach to education, Chicago has produced some of the world's best thinkers and scholars. It has reshaped how we view social sciences such as sociology, anthropology, political science and especially economics, a department in which it's easier to count the faculty without a Nobel Prize. Top schools of law, medicine, business and social service administration add to the university's strengths.

So what's the problem, if any? Take a closer look at the undergraduate division and you'll find bright students who, in many cases, didn't make the admissions cut at other institutions. In other words, Chicago doesn't compete successfully with many of the Ivies and Stanford for the best undergrads. Not long ago, the university was admitting around half of its undergraduate applicants. Now, you could argue that this was the result of a self-selecting applicant pool, but I don't buy it. Simply put, Chicago isn't on the map for many of the nation's top high school students. It should be, given its academic excellence, but its tough reputation and lack of a real intercollegiate athletics program turn many kids away. It may rank among the elite institutions at the graduate and professional level, but its undergraduate reputation doesn't measure up to the very best.

That's why it's Number 7.

(Source: University of Virginia)The Graduate Management Admissions Council recently released a study showing that, for the third consecutive year, applications to MBA programs have declined. The good news for B-schools? The decrease was the smallest over that three-year span. Some credit the economic rebound, slight as it may be, for keeping potential students in the job market and out of school.

The study also revealed that students are flocking to part-time and online programs, while interest in executive MBA programs remains the same. What's more, increasing numbers of American and foreign students are seeking options overseas. Here's what Business Week concludes about all this:

An optimist might view the latest gmac numbers as a sign that students are getting smarter about when to get their degrees, where to apply, and how best to juggle the demands of work, family, and school.

But it might just be that the market for management education is sending B-schools a message: Even the world's seemingly insatiable demand for newly minted MBAs has its limits.