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May 6, 2021
QS announces USA University Rankings 2021 — The top colleges driving Diversity and Employability.
Photo: Sather Tower, University of California, Berkeley. Image Credit: Daniel Parks.
Photo: A building at UCLA campus. Image Credit: Yoshi Huang.
LONDON, May 6, 2021 — Offering unique insight into diversity drives, research excellence, and employability enhancement, QS Quacquarelli Symonds - recognized internationally for their QS World University Rankings portfolio - released their second annual list of America’s top universities. Harvard University remains the national number-one.
The focus on Diversity provides students with information about which universities are doing most to reduce sectoral gender and racial inequities. The University of California Davis and New York University jointly lead in the Diversity indicator.
Only six of the top-20 universities also achieve a top-20 score for Diversity & Internationalization.
Among the Top-100, the highest student ethnic diversity institutions are UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
All bar one of the top-10 for Student Ethnicity Mix is a public university, indicating that public universities are meeting their social obligations to increase Diversity.
Among the Top-100, the institutions with the highest proportion of female staff are liberal arts colleges - Barnard College and Wellesley College, with over 60% female academic staff.
Some of America’s top research institutions perform less strongly in gender diversity. MIT, scoring third for Research, has only 28% female staff, and Stanford (second for Research) only records 35% of its staff as female.
QS’s data shows that tech-focused institutions still lag behind their peers in terms of widening female workforce participation. Among the ranking’s top 100, the institutions with the lowest ratio of female to male staff are Caltech, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Institute of Technology, and MIT.
The QS USA University Rankings also prioritizes employability and teaching quality as crucial lenses to assess institutional performance.
Jack Moran, a QS Spokesperson, said: “While the overall QS World University Rankings continue to command record levels of interest, we know that the American higher education sector is wrestling with questions that do not fall within the scope of our global rankings - questions of equity, access, representation, and social justice. The QS USA University Rankings shine some independent light on those institutions that are doing most to foster the important relationship between education and social change.”
Containing more than 350 universities, this year’s QS USA Rankings is the largest yet. New York state leads as the most represented state, with 74 universities. California is the next best-performing with 38.
Public universities continue to perform strongly, with two places in this year’s top five and seven in the top 30. If you’re looking to take advantage of the benefits of studying at a public university, any of these institutions would be worth considering.
QS USA University Rankings 2021
• Top 100
- Harvard University — Cambridge
- Stanford University — Stanford
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — Cambridge
- University of California, Berkeley (UCB) — Berkeley
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) — Los Angeles
- Yale University — New Haven
- Columbia University — New York City
- Princeton University — Princeton
- New York University (NYU) — New York City
- University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia
- University of Chicago — Chicago
- Cornell University — Ithaca
- Duke University — Durham
- Johns Hopkins University — Baltimore
- University of Southern California — Los Angeles
- Northwestern University — Evanston
- Carnegie Mellon University — Pittsburgh
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor — Ann Arbor
- Brown University — Providence
- Boston University — Boston
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech) — Pasadena
- Emory University — Atlanta
- Rice University — Houston
- University of Washington — Seattle
- Washington University in St. Louis — St. Louis
- Georgetown University — Washington DC.
- University of California, San Diego (UCSD) — San Diego
- Vanderbilt University — Nashville
- The University of Texas at Austin — Austin
- The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — Champaign
- University of Rochester — Rochester
- Dartmouth College — Hanover
- University of North — Carolina
- University of California, Davis — Davis
- University of Florida — Gainesville
- Tufts University — Medford
- The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) — Chicago
- Georgia Institute of Technology — Atlanta
- Stony Brook University, State University of New York — Stony Brook
- University of Virginia — Charlottesville
- Case Western Reserve University — Cleveland
- Rutgers University-New Brunswick — New Brunswick
- University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) — Santa Barbara
- Pennsylvania State University — University Park
- George Washington University — Ashburn
- University of California, Irvine — Irvine
- University of Notre Dame — Notre Dame
- University of Miami — Miami
- Northeastern University — Boston
- The Ohio State University — Columbus
- University at Buffalo SUNY — Buffalo
- University of Maryland, College Park — College Park
- Purdue University — West Lafayette
- University of Minnesota Twin Cities — Minneapolis
- Boston College — Newton
- Michigan State University — East Lansing
- University of Massachusetts Amherst — Amherst
- University of Wisconsin-Madison — Madison
- Syracuse University — Syracuse
- Lehigh University — Bethlehem
- University of Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh
- Arizona State University — Phoenix
- Brandeis University — Waltham
- Temple University — Philadelphia
- Texas A&M University — College Station
- The University of Arizona — Tucson
- The University of Houston — Houston
- Binghamton University SUNY — Binghamton
- Drexel University — Philadelphia
- North Carolina State University — Raleigh
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — Troy
- University of Connecticut — Storrs
- The University of Georgia — Athens
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University — Blacksburg
- University of New Mexico — Albuquerque
- Indiana University Bloomington — Bloomington
- Tulane University — New Orleans
- University of Colorado Boulder — Boulder
- Florida State University — Tallahassee
- University of South Florida — Tampa
- Illinois Institute of Technology — Chicago
- University of California, Riverside — Riverside
- University of California, Santa Cruz — Santa Cruz
- Howard University — Washington DC.
- University of Texas Dallas — Richardson
- Santa Clara University — Santa Clara
- Wake Forest University — Winston-Salem
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County — Baltimore
- University of Utah — Salt Lake City
- George Mason University — Fairfax
- New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) — Newark
- University of Massachusetts Boston — Boston
- University of Kansas — Lawrence
- University at Albany SUNY — Albany
- Oregon State University — Corvallis
- University of Delaware — Newark
- University of the Pacific — Stockton
- Rutgers University-Newark — Newark
- The University of Hawaii at MÄnoa — Honolulu
- San Diego State University — San Diego
• 101-110
- University of Iowa — Iowa City
- The University of Oklahoma — Norman
- Baylor University — Waco
- College of William and Mary — Williamsburg
- Stevens Institute of Technology — Hoboken
- University of Central Florida — Orlando
- University of Cincinnati — Cincinnati
- University of Kentucky — Lexington
- The University of Tennessee, Knoxville — Knoxville
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute — Worcester
• 111-120
- DePaul University — Chicago
- Florida International University — Miami
- Georgia State University — Atlanta
- Portland State University — Portland
- Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) — Rochester
- University of Louisville — Louisville
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln — Lincoln
- University of New Hampshire — Durham
- University of North Texas — Denton
- University of Oregon — Eugene
- University of San Francisco — San Francisco
- University of South Carolina — Columbia
• 121-130
- Fordham University — New York City
- Loyola University Chicago — Chicago
- San Francisco State University — San Francisco
- Seattle University — Seattle
- Southern Methodist University — Dallas
- University of Missouri, Columbia — Columbia
- University of Vermont — Burlington
- Wayne State University — Detroit
• 131-140
- American University — Washington DC.
- Bentley University — Waltham
- Clemson University — Clemson
- Colorado State University, Fort Collins
- Loyola Marymount University — Los Angeles
- Pepperdine University — Malibu
- The University of Alabama — Tuscaloosa
- University of Denver — Denver
- University of Rhode Island Kingston
- Virginia Commonwealth University — Richmond
- West Virginia University — Morgantown
• 141-150
- Clark University — Worcester
- Clarkson University — Potsdam
- Michigan Technological University — Houghton
- Rowan University — Glassboro
- San Jose State University — San Jose
- Saint Louis University
- The University of Alabama at Birmingham — Birmingham
- University of Colorado, Denver — Denver
- University of Nevada - Reno — Reno
• 151-160
- CUNY Baruch College — New York City
- CUNY Hunter College — New York City
- Hofstra University — New York City
- Kansas State University — Manhattan
- Missouri University of Science and Technology — Rolla
- Oklahoma State University — Stillwater
- Suffolk University — Boston
- The University of Missouri, Kansas City — Kansas City
- The University of North Carolina at Charlotte — Charlotte
- Villanova University — Villanova
• 161-170
- Andrews University — Berrien Springs
- Auburn University — Auburn
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis — Indianapolis
- Ohio University — Athens
- Pace University-New York — New York City
- Rutgers University-Camden — Camden
- Simmons University — Boston
- St. John’s University: New York City — New York City
- University of San Diego — San Diego
- Yeshiva University — New York City
• 171-180
- Chapman University — Orange
- Dominican University of California — San Rafael
- Elon University — Elon
- Loyola University Maryland — Baltimore
- Northern Arizona University — Flagstaff
- Nova Southeastern University — Fort Lauderdale
- University of Memphis — Memphis
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro — Greensboro
- Valparaiso University — Valparaiso
- Washington State University — Pullman
• 181-190
- Georgia Southern University — Statesboro
- James Madison University — Harrisonburg
- Miami University, Oxford
- Rollins College — Winter Park
- Texas Christian University — Fort Worth
- Texas Tech University — Lubbock
- The College of New Jersey — Ewing Township
- University of Dayton — Dayton
- University of Hartford — West Hartford
- University of Idaho — Moscow
• 191-200
- Brigham Young University — Provo
- CUNY Queens College — New York City
- California Lutheran University — Thousand Oaks
- California State University - Fullerton — Fullerton
- Iowa State University — Ames
- Kent State University — Kent
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology — Socorro
- New York Institute of Technology — New York City
- Stetson University — United States
- The University of Massachusetts Lowell — Lowell
- University of Mississippi — Oxford
- University of Scranton — Scranton
- The University of Texas at San Antonio — San Antonio
- University of Wisconsin Milwaukee — Milwaukee
• 201-250
- Ball State University — Muncie
- Boise State University — Boise
- Butler University — Indianapolis
- CUNY The City College of New York — New York City
- California State Polytechnic University - Pomona — Pomona
- California State University - Los Angeles — Los Angeles
- The Catholic University of America — Washington DC.
- Chaminade University of Honolulu — Honolulu
- CUNY College of Staten Island — Staten Island
- Creighton University — Omaha
- Dominican University — River Forest
- East Carolina University — Greenville
- Fairfield University — Fairfield
- Florida Atlantic University - Boca Raton — Boca Raton
- Hawaii Pacific University — Honolulu
- Immaculata University — Immaculata
- Ithaca College — Ithaca
- La Salle University — Philadelphia
- Louisiana State University — Baton Rouge
- Marquette University — Milwaukee
- Marymount University — Arlington
- Mississippi State University — Starkville
- Montana State University — Bozeman
- North Dakota State University — Fargo
- Northern Illinois University — DeKalb
- Old Dominion University — Norfolk
- Rider University — Lawrenceville
- Roosevelt University
- The State University of New York at Geneseo — Geneseo
- SUNY New Paltz
- Seattle Pacific University — Seattle
- Sonoma State University — Rohnert Park
- SUNY Oswego — Oswego
- Texas State University, — San Marcos
- University of Alaska Anchorage — Anchorage
- University of Alaska Fairbanks — Fairbanks
- University of Bridgeport — Bridgeport
- The University of Maine — Orono
- University of Michigan-Dearborn — Dearborn
- University of Missouri Saint Louis — St. Louis
- The University of Nevada - Las Vegas — Las Vegas
- University of Redlands — Redlands
- University of St Thomas — St Paul
- The University of St. Thomas - Houston — Houston
- University of Toledo — Toledo
- University of Tulsa — Tulsa
- University of Wyoming — Laramie
- Western Illinois University — Macomb
- Western Washington University — Bellingham
- William Paterson University of New Jersey — Wayne
• 251-300
- Adelphi University — Garden City
- Alfred University
- Appalachian State University (ASU) — Boone
- Augsburg University
- Bryant University — Smithfield
- CUNY Lehman College — New York City
- California State University, San Marcos College
- California State University Northridge Los Angeles
- California State University Sacramento
- California State University - Long Beach
- California State University - San Bernardino
- Campbell University
- College of Charleston
- Gonzaga University — Spokane
- Illinois State University Normal
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana
- Manhattan College — New York City
- Morgan State University — Baltimore
- Northeastern Illinois University
- Notre Dame of Maryland University — Baltimore
- Oakland University — Rochester
- Pacific Lutheran University — Tahoma
- Providence College — Providence
- Regis University — Denver
- SUNY Brockport Brockport
- The State University of New York at Fredonia — Fredonia
- SUNY Oneonta — Oneonta
- Saint Mary’s College of California — Moraga
- Saint Peter’s University
- South Dakota State University — Brookings
- St. Edward’s University — Austin
- University of Arkansas Fayetteville — Fayetteville
- University of Evansville — Evansville
- University of Illinois, Springfield (UIS) — Springfield
- University of La Verne — La Verne
- University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
- University of New Haven — New Haven
- University of North Florida — Jacksonville
- University of North Georgia
- University of Portland Portland
- University of South Alabama (USA) — Mobile
- University of South Dakota — Vermillion
- University of Texas Arlington — Arlington
- The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire — Eau Claire
- Western Connecticut State University
- Western Michigan University — Kalamazoo
- Wilkes University
• 301-350
- Buffalo State College (SUNY)
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis — Obispo
- California State University - Stanislaus
- California State University Dominguez Hills — Carson
- Carthage College
- Central Michigan University — Mount Pleasant
- Chestnut Hill College — Philadelphia
- Christian Brothers University
- Delaware State University
- Duquesne University — Pittsburgh
- Eastern University
- Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University — Tallahassee
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Frostburg State University
- Hamline University — Saint Paul
- Hampton University — Hampton
- Jacksonville University
- John Carroll University — University Heights
- King’s College — Wilkes-Barre
- Lamar University
- Lawrence Technological University — Southfield
- Lynn University
- Madonna University — Livonia
- Manhattanville College — Purchase
- Marist College — Poughkeepsie
- Mercer University — Macon
- Mount St Mary’s College — New York City
- Nazareth College — Rochester
- Niagara University
- Our Lady of the Lake University, — San Antonio
- Radford University
- SUNY Cortland Cortland
- SUNY Plattsburgh
- SUNY Potsdam
- Salisbury University
- Sam Houston State University
- Shenandoah University — Winchester
- Towson University — Towson
- Truman State University — Kirksville
- University of Guam
- University of Michigan-Flint — Flint
- University of Montana Missoula — Missoula
- University of Nebraska - Omaha
- University of North Carolina Wilmington — Wilmington
- University of North Dakota — Grand Forks
- The University of Tampa — Tampa
- University of the Incarnate Word
- Utah State University — Logan
- Waynesburg University — Waynesburg
- Wichita State University — Wichita
- Xavier University of Louisiana — New Orleans
— METHODOLOGY —
QS evaluated the US universities according to the following 17 metrics. They fall into four broad groupings (Employability, Diversity & Internationalisation, Learning Experience, and Research).
• Employability (24.5%)
- This category looks at the employment prospects of students graduating from US higher education institutions through metrics that include the results of the Employer Reputation Survey, Alumni outcomes, and salary post-graduation.
• Employer reputation (10%)
- QS Employer Reputation metric is based on almost 45,000 responses to the QS Employer Survey and asks employers to identify those institutions from which they source the most competent, innovative, effective graduates. The QS Employer Survey is also the world’s largest of its kind.
• Alumni outcomes (10%)
- QS has been recording the educational background of over 30,000 highly influential employers, sector leaders, and award-winning professionals, as well as individuals.
• Salary after ten years (4.5%)
- This indicator looks at the average salary of graduates (who received federal financial aid) ten years after first entering university.
• Diversity & Internationalisation (25%)
- This broad category attempts to understand to what extent a higher education institution is striving towards being as inclusive as possible while promoting an environment that seeks to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality and Goal 10: Reduced Inequality.
• Gender pay gap (2.5%)
- One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to achieve Gender Equality through female equality in the workplace and eradicating unfair practices targeting women.
• Faculty gender diversity (2.5%)
- This indicator is also used against the backdrop of the UN’s SDG to achieve Gender Equality. It aims to capture whether there is equal representation of both male and female employees within the faculty of a higher education institution. Institutions that are moving towards an equivalent model are demonstrating their commitment to progress towards achieving Gender Equality.
• The ratio of undergraduate students receiving Pell grants (5%)
- This indicator focuses on the percentage of enrolled undergraduate students that got a Pell Grant. The Pell Grant program provides grant assistance to eligible undergraduate postsecondary students with demonstrated financial needs to help meet higher education expenses.
• Students’ ethnicity mix (5%)
- The student fabric of a higher education institution is an important indicator that reflects its openness and attention to nurture a diverse, culturally sensitive, and tolerant student cohort. An institution with a diverse student ethnic mix demonstrates that it cultivates inclusiveness and promotes social mobility while offering its students a diverse student learning experience crucial in today’s global world.
• Number of Fulbright recipients per institution (5%)
- This indicator looks at which US institutions are top producers of US Fulbright students over a combined period of 3 years. The Fulbright Programme is the US government’s flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State. Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Programme has provided more than 390,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
• The proportion of international students (5%)
- A highly international university acquires and confers several advantages. It demonstrates an ability to attract students from across the world, suggesting that it possesses a solid global brand.
• Learning experience (22%)
- This category aims to reflect the overall learning environment provided by a higher education institution to its students through the level of support it offers all its students regardless of background.
• Average instructional expenditure per FTE (full-time equivalency) student (10%)
- Average teaching spending per FTE (full-time equivalency) student demonstrates how many financial resources a higher education institution spends on average teaching per student. This indicator is used as a proxy to determine how strongly an institution is committed to offering the most effective learning environment possible.
• Retention rate (5%)
- It is a measure of the rate at which students persist in their educational program at an institution, expressed as a percentage. That is the percentage of the first-time bachelor (or equivalent) degree-seeking undergraduates from the previous fall who are again enrolled in the current fall for four-year institutions. For all other institutions, this is the percentage of first-time degree/certificate-seeking students from the previous fall who either re-enrolled or completed their program by the current fall.
• Pell grant student graduation rates compared with other students (3.5%)
- This indicator focuses on how well an institution supports students in financial need awarded a Pell grant. The number of grant recipients graduating within 150% of standard time to program completion, compared to the average graduation rate for students that did not receive a Pell grant or Stafford loan.
• Student-faculty ratio (3.5%)
- Students’ teaching quality is typically cited as the highest importance metric when comparing institutions. It isn’t easy to measure, but QS says it has determined that measuring student/faculty ratios is the most effective proxy metric currently available. This indicator assesses the extent to which institutions can provide undergraduate students with meaningful access to faculty members and recognizes that a high number of faculty members per undergraduate student will reduce the teaching burden on each academic.
• Research (28.5%)
- This category demonstrates how the Research of a higher education institution is having an impact. It focuses on the quality of the Research, regardless of the size of an institution. How much open and internationally collaborative its research outputs are, whether within academia or with industry.
• Academic Reputation (13.5%)
- Academic reputation is measured using a global survey. Scholars identify the institutions where they believe the best work is currently taking place within their field of expertise. The survey collates the expert opinions of over 94,000 individuals in the higher education space. It has grown to become the world’s largest survey of academic thought in terms of size and scope and is an unparalleled means of measuring sentiment in the academic community.
• Citations per paper (7%)
- Citations per paper focus on the performance of the documents an institution produces that get indexed in Scopus. It assesses the number of citations per Research Paper published, aiming to explain the impact each institution’s research has within the research community.
• International Research Network (IRN) (5%)
- This indicator assesses the degree of international Diversity in research collaboration for each evaluated institution. The Margalef Index, widely used in environmental sciences, has been adapted to estimate the richness of the selected international research partners for a given institution.
• Partnerships with Employers per Faculty (3%)
- This indicator uses Elsevier’s Scopus database to establish which universities collaborate successfully with global companies to produce citable, transformative research. This year’s ranking accounts for university collaborations with 2,000 top global companies listed by Fortune and Forbes. The figure is adjusted to account for the number of faculty at each university.
Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:48 PM | Link to this Post