Forbes Magazine has developed an "alternative" to the highly read US News and World Report college rankings. In its August 2008 issue, Forbes teamed with Dr. Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, to rank 569 undergraduate institutions based on the quality of the education they provide, and how much their students achieve.
Whether you buy into the methodology of any ranking system, somehow it's always compelling to see who made the list and to try to figure out why, especially if you're close to making your own "college shopping decision".
In Northeast Ohio, 12 colleges were selected by Forbes to be among the top 15% in the nation:
Rank College Cost ($) Size of Freshman Class
51 Oberlin College 48,070 742
123 College of Wooster 41,432 543
152 John Carroll University 37,224 720
206 Hiram College 25,160 NA
232 Baldwin-Wallace College 32,862 740
390 Mount Union College 30,850 593
403 Case Western Reserve University 45,826 1,133
481 Ohio Northern University 40,575 722
482 Kent State University 21,020 3,800
500 University of Akron, Main Campus19,789 4,109
505 Bowling Green State University 20,156 3,241
564 University of Toledo 20,700 NA
Compiling data from a "variety of sources", Forbes strove to answer the following questions:
- How good will my professors be?
- Will the school help me achieve notable career success?
- If I have to borrow to pay for college, how deeply will I go into debt?
- What are the chances I will graduate in four years?
- Are students and faculty recognized nationally, or even globally?
So first, you have to agree that these are the right questions. They certainly appear to answer some key questions that parents have about payback of their investment in tuition toward a successful job future for their children.
Forbes combines quantitative and qualitative measures (numerical measures and accumulated opinions). And so should parents. Like the US News and World Report version, the Forbes (and other) rankings offers "indicators" for families in their choice of college. But it still comes down to the fit of the individual student with the college (often a "gut feel"), as well as the opportunities initially offered by the college (financial and otherwise), that set up the student for success in higher education.
And other data sources suggest that -- once you get out into the work world -- successful employment simply doesn't have anything to do with where you went to school and what your major was. Getting hired -- and staying employed -- ultimately depends on proficiency in soft skills, like interpersonal communication and self-motivation; even if you land the "hot job" for which you are academically prepared.
But Forbes did come up with the following conclusions from its research:
Students strongly prefer smaller schools to big ones.
Big state schools performed poorly.
Small liberal arts schools faired very well.
Readers are reminded that the U.S. Department of Education, there are more than 4,000 college campuses in the U.S.. So the "decision set" is much larger than these rankings would suggest. The editors also recognize that it's fairly "absurd" to rank colleges with "mock precision", when the process of individual choice is so much more complex. But "when families have to make a decision with a six-figure price tag and lifelong impact, .....they deserve all the information they can get."
Jill Bernaciak
Owner
http://www.whatsyourmajor.net/
440-668-3446
What's Your Major? SM
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My mission is to empower youth with: - The knowledge about career possibilities, and the education and training needed to attain them - The creative-thinking and emotional skills that make for good career decisions and which employers prefer; - And the resilience needed to flourish in life.
