College Rankings
Top 225+ US Colleges & Universities Report now Downloadable!
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Harvard Brand Takes a Hit in Tough Economic Times
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Top 225 Colleges in US ranked by Media Buzz
MIchigan and MIT displace Harvard atop Media Buzz Ranking
—Harvard declines 20%; endowment troubles cited
—Public Ivies and Technology-focused institutions thrive
Wellesley tops Colorado and Williams among colleges
—First Women’s College atop Liberal Arts Rankings
—Liberal Arts colleges hold their own on Media Buzz
First Rankings to Include Online, Business, Tech Hybrid, Art, Design and Music Schools
Colleges Ranked by State
Austin, Texas November 9, 2009. In an exclusive TrendTopper MediaBuzz™ analysis of the nation’s colleges and universities, the Global Language Monitor has ranked the nation’s Top 200 colleges and universities according their appearance in the global print and electronic media, on the Internet throughout the blogosphere, and including social media such as Twitter. The GLM rankings were also the first to include specialty schools, such as Art, Business, Music and Engineering schools, as well as online universities.
In the University category, there appeared to be a ‘flight to quality’ with the consumer perception of quality being the price-sensitive ‘public ivies’ and technology-centered schools, epitomized by the University of Michigan moving up three places to the top spot. Harvard saw a decline in Media Buzz citations of some 20%, perhaps reflecting its endowment taking an $11 billion hit including some $1.8 billion from the general fund. Other major movers include MIT jumping from No. 16 to No. 2 affirmed the technology trend, North Carolina, another public ivy, moved into the Top Ten, with California—Berkeley moving from No.10 to No. 6.
In the College category, Wellesley overtook Colorado College, Williams and Amherst to claim the No. 1 position, a first for a women’s college. Pomona College, one of California’s Claremont Colleges re-emerged in the Top Ten, and Eugene Lang College of New School University debuted at a very strong No. 9. Overall the College Media Buzz was generally up in contrast to that of the private schools on the Universities list.
“This year we’ve witnessed the impact the Global Financial Restructuring has had upon the US higher education system. On the University level there has been a small but dramatic reordering of the hierarchy, which has remained virtually unshaken for many years,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst at GLM. “However, Liberal arts colleges, the public ivies, and engineering-focused schools appear to have held onto, or actually increased their ‘brand equity’.”
Since TrendTopper MediaBuzz ranks overall media awareness and strength of a school’s ‘brand’ or reputation, the Global Language Monitor included specialty schools, such as Art, Business, Design, Music and Engineering schools, as well as online universities. All these were included in the College category with the exception of the online university, which was assigned to the University category.
The Top Specialty schools listed in their categories as well as overall rank are listed below.
• The Top Business school was Babson College was the Top Business (67 overall, college).
• The Top Art and Design schools were Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) (27 overall, college), Pratt Institute (28 overall, college), and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (47 overall, college).
• The Top Engineering school was The Cooper Union (38 overall, college).
• The Top Music Schools were the Julliard School (50 overall, college), the New England Conservatory of Music (96 overall, college), and Berklee College (99 overall, college).
• The Top Online University was the University of Phoenix, USA (37 overall, university).
• The Top Christian was Wheaton College, IL (16 overall, college),
• The Top Military Academies were the United States Naval Academy (20 overall, college), the United States Military Academy (48 overall, college) and the United States Air Force Academy (61 overall, college).
The Top Twenty-five Universities are listed here.
1 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor, MI
2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
3 Harvard University, MA
4 Columbia University, NY
5 University of Chicago, IL
6 University of California—Berkeley, CA
7 University of Wisconsin—Madison , WI
8 Stanford University, CA
9 University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, NC
10 Cornell University, NY
11 Yale University, CT
12 Princeton University, NJ
13 University of Pennsylvania, PA
14 University of California—Los Angeles, CA
15 University of Washington, WA
16 University of Minnesota, MN
17 New York University, NY
18 University of California—San Diego, CA
19 Johns Hopkins University, MD
20 Ohio State University—Columbus, OH
21 University of Virginia, VA
22 U. of California, Davis, CA
23 Georgia Institute of Technology, GA
24 Duke University, NC
25 Boston University, MA
The Top Twenty-five Colleges are listed here.
1 Wellesley College, MA
2 Williams College, MA
3 Colorado College, CO
4 Oberlin College, OH
5 Amherst College, MA
6 Pomona College, CA
7 Middlebury College, VT
8 Union College, NY
9 Eugene Lang College, NY
10 University of Richmond, VA
11 Vassar College, NY
12 Bowdoin College, ME
13 Bryn Mawr College, PA
14 Connecticut College, CT
15 Bucknell University, PA
16 Wheaton College IL
17 Hamilton College, NY
18 Barnard College, NY
19 Dickinson College, PA
20 United States Naval Academy, MD
21 Washington & Lee University, VA
22 Colgate University, NY
23 Carleton College, MN
24 Bates College, ME
25 Willamette University, OR
The Top 200 Colleges and Universities were also ranked by Media Momentum, defined as largest change in Media Buzz from the end of 2008, and the largest change in media citations in the previous 90 days. The analysis was completed on November 1, 2009
The complete report is available for download from GLM’s site.
The report includes:
- 125 Top Universities
- 100 Top Colleges
- Change in the rankings over time
- The PQI Index number for each school to better understand relative rankings
- Ranking by Momentum (Yearly and 90-day snapshots)
- Rankings by State
GLM used its proprietary Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) software for the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Analysis. GLM used the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications as the basis to distinguish between Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges. The schools were ranked in late October, with the last day of 2008 as the base, with two interim snapshots in 2009.
The Global Language Monitor provides the TrendTopper Reputation Management Service that helps institutions differentiate themselves among their competitors. TTRMS does not influence the rankings in any way. For more information, go to www.TrendTopper.com or call 925.367.7557.
About the Global Language Monitor
Austin-Texas-based Global Language Monitor analyzes and catalogues the latest trends in word usage and word choices, and their impact on the various aspects of culture, with a particular emphasis upon Global English.
English has become the first truly global language with some 1.53 billion speakers as a first, second or auxiliary language. Paul JJ Payack examines its impact on the world economy, culture and society in A Million Words and Counting (Citadel Press, New York, 2009).
For more information, call 1.925.367.7557, send email to info@LanguageMonitor.com, or visit www.LanguageMonitor.com.
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Get the Expanded 2010 TrendTopper Analysis: 70+ pages!
Highlights include:
MICHIGAN No. 1, MIT No.2, HARVARD No. 3.
Both Michigan and MIT displace Harvard atop University Ranking
—Harvard declines 20%; endowment troubles cited
—Public Ivies (Cal, Wisconsin, UNC, etc.) and Technology-focused institutions thrive
Read the Reaction from Michigan, Harvard, Yale and Wisconsin
WELLESLEY No.1, tops Colorado, Williams and Amherst among colleges
—First Women’s College atop Liberal Arts Rankings
—Liberal Arts colleges hold their own on Media Buzz
First College and Universities Rankings to focus on BRAND EQUITY
First to include Online, Business, Tech, Art & Music Schools integrated into the rankings
Download the Report Now!
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Check Twitter for Top 225 College & University Previews
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Past Internet-based College and University Rankings
For the April, 2009 University Rankings, click here.
For the April, 2009 University Momentum Rankings, click here.
For the April, 2009 College Rankings, click here.
For the April, 2009 College Momentum Rankings, click here.
For the September, 2008 College and University Rankings, click here.
For TrendTopper MediaBuzz College Reputation Management Services, click here.
Harvard narrowly tops Columbia; Chicago, Michigan and Stanford follow
Wisconsin, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, and Cal in Top Ten
Colorado tops Williams; Amherst, Wellesley and Oberlin follow
Middlebury, Richmond, Union, Vassar, and Bard in Top Ten
Austin, Texas, USA. April 9, 2009. In an exclusive TrendTopper MediaBuzz™ analysis of the nation’s colleges and universities, the Global Language Monitor has ranked the nation’s Top 100 colleges and universities according their appearance in the global print and electronic media, as well as on the Internet and throughout the Blogosphere. Social Media were also included. The Top 100 Colleges and Universities were also ranked by Media Momentum, defined as largest change in Media Buzz from the end of 2008.
Read the story in the Harvard Crimson
In the University category, Harvard narrowly topped Columbia by a margin of 1.03%; Chicago moved into the No. 3 spot with Michigan and Stanford following. Wisconsin moved up to No. 6, while Cornell moved up three spots to No. 7, with Princeton, Yale, and the University of California, Berkeley rounding out the Top Ten. Taken as a whole, the University of California system would have outdistanced Harvard for the Top Spot by a wide margin.
Read the story from the University of Wisconsin
In the Liberal Arts College category, Colorado College and Williams repeated as No. 1 and 2 with Amherst, Wellesley and Oberlin all moving up. Middlebury, Richmond, Union (moving up five spots), Vassar, and Bard (moving up six spots) completed the Top Ten.
In the Media Momentum category for universities: CalTech, Emory and Boston College topped the list with George Tech, Tufts, USC, Rice, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Brandeis rounding out the Top Ten.
In the Media Momentum category for colleges: Bard College debuted at No. 1 followed by Colorado, Harvey Mudd, Wesleyan, St Olaf College, Grinnell, Holy Cross, Gettysburg, Claremont McKenna College, and St Lawrence.
Go to http://www.languagemonitor.com/college-rankings for the complete Top 100 rankings.
“In a year of financial, intellectual, and political ferment one constant has been the primacy of college brands,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst at GLM. “However, they are being scrutinized as seldom before with the differentiators between and among differing schools coming to the forefront.”
GLM used its proprietary Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) software for the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Analysis. GLM used the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications to distinguish between Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges. The schools were ranked in early April, with the last day of 2008 as the base, with two interim snapshots.
Background
In September, 2008 in an exclusive TrendTopper MediaBuzz analysis of the nation’s colleges and universities, the Global Language Monitor ranked the nation’s colleges and universities according their appearance on the Internet, throughout the Blogosphere, as well in the global print and electronic media. The analysis included social media.
In the University category, Harvard nipped Columbia for top spot with Michigan, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford following. Rounding out the top ten were: the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Yale, Princeton and Cornell. For the complete 2008 University Rankings, click here.
In the Liberal Arts College category, Colorado College upset Williams for the Top Spot, while Richmond, Middlebury and Wellesley followed. This is the first time, in any national ranking that a Liberal Arts College from the West ranked in the Top Spot. Rounding out the Top Ten were: Bucknell, Amherst, Oberlin, Vassar, and Pomona College. For the complete 2008 College Rankings, click here.
The idea behind the TrendTopper MediaBuzz rankings was a simple one. ”There are only three types of intellectual property in the US, and one of them is the trademark (or brand) which are intended to represent all the perceived attributes of a service - and institutions of higher education are no different,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst at GLM. “Prospective students, alumni, employers, and the world at large believe that students who are graduated from such institutions will carry on the all the hallmarks of that particular school. Our TrendTopper analysis is a way of seeing the schools through the eyes of the world at large.”
The schools were also ranked according to ‘media momentum’ defined as having the largest change in media citations over the last year.
GLM used its proprietary Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) software for the TrendTopper Media Buzz Analysis. GLM used the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications to distinguish between Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges.
GLM created the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Rankings to remove all bias that we saw as inherent in each of the other published rankings, be they peer assessments, the opinion of high school guidance counselors, the ratio of endowment to number of students, number of left-leaning professors, and all the rest.
We found it highly interest that many institutions used our rankings as a validation of their recent reputation management decisions:
• Harvard University: “Rankings highlight correlation between university prestige and media coverage … Indeed, the study seems to validate the Harvard Kennedy School’s recent decision to rebrand itself. Known as the Kennedy School of Government until last spring, the public policy and administration changed its shorthand so that it includes the word “Harvard”.
• Boston College: “University Spokesman Jack Dunn said, “Boston College’s ranking in this study serves as an affirmation of what we have long believed. Academic research and accomplishments along with media citations and this recent ranking are all affirmations of the growing steam of this university.” The major factors that contributed to BC’s high ranking were a well-published academic community, a strong public relations office, and a successful sports program in recent years.
• Vanderbilt University: “… when prospective students, faculty, friends and neighbors hear ‘Vanderbilt’ they associate it with excellent academic programs, innovative research, world class health care, the best students, a gorgeous campus, a dynamic hometown, rockin’ athletics and more. And, by one measure at least, we’re succeeding.”
• Chronicle of Higher Education: “[GLM’s TrendTopper analysis] is at least one measure of wealth, success and prestige,” Hoover said. “Even on campuses where presidents do not put too much stock into rankings themselves, it is something they must think about” because alums and top students pay attention to them. – Eric Hoover, marketing strategies, Chronicle of Higher Education, quoted in Harvard Crimson.
For more information, call 1.925.367.7557 or email pjjp@post.harvard.edu.
Learn more about GLM’s College Reputation Management Services
The TrendTopper MediaBuzz ranking are powered by the Global Language Monitor’s Predictive Quantities Indicator, a proprietary algorithm. To learn more about the PQI, click here.
GLM’s College Reputation Management Services are part of our TrendTopper Branding Services. To learn more, click here.