US New Rankings

[The Big East]

MU 88

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

[Not A Serious Person]

Year        MU
2008        82
2009        77
2010        84
2011        75
2012        82
2013        83
2014        75
2015        76
2016        86
2017        86
2018        90
2019        89
2020        84
2021        88

Two comments ....

MU was in a nine-way tie for 88 (with Iowa to name one).  So, if they were one tick higher in any category, they would have been 80 ... which had five schools tied.

So the difference between last year and this year is really a rounding error, if that.

Second, note MU's jump from 2015 (76) to 2016 (86).  This was a series break.  They added a bunch of "National Liberal Arts" schools to the "National University Rankings." (Nova moved to this category to name one school).

[Billy Hoyle]

Year        MU
2008        82
2009        77
2010        84
2011        75
2012        82
2013        83
2014        75
2015        76
2016        86
2017        86
2018        90
2019        89
2020        84
2021        88

Two comments ....

MU was in a nine-way tie for 88 (with Iowa to name one).  So, if they were one tick higher in any category, they would have been 80 ... which had five schools tied.

So the difference between last year and this year is really a rounding error, if that.

Second, note MU's jump from 2015 (76) to 2016 (86).  This was a series break.  They added a bunch of "National Liberal Arts" schools to the "National University Rankings." (Nova moved to this category to name one school).

How does MU rank with our "peer institutions?" Loyola Chicago, SLU, perhaps Xavier now that we're in th BE together? Any others?

[Galway Eagle]

How does MU rank with our "peer institutions?" Loyola Chicago, SLU, perhaps Xavier now that we're in th BE together? Any others?

LUC 112, SLU 103, Creighton 112, Dayton 133, Depaul 124, Xavier is regional.

Of note, Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount both ahead of us. Used to think we were the head of the next tier of Jesuit schools after BC and GTown got the cream of the crop.

[shoothoops]

LUC 112, SLU 103, Creighton 112, Dayton 133, Depaul 124, Xavier is regional.

Of note, Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount both ahead of us. Used to think we were the head of the next tier of Jesuit schools after BC and GTown got the cream of the crop.

and Fordham.

[Galway Eagle]

and Fordham.

Did not know they were Jesuit. My bad

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

LUC 112, SLU 103, Creighton 112, Dayton 133, Depaul 124, Xavier is regional.

Of note, Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount both ahead of us. Used to think we were the head of the next tier of Jesuit schools after BC and GTown got the cream of the crop.

Xavier #4 in the Midwest Region

[Galway Eagle]

Xavier #4 in the Midwest Region

#5

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/xavier-university-3144

[shoothoops]

Did not know they were Jesuit. My bad

I would have to look but I believe they are usually in the top 50 or so and dropped slightly. But they are part of those other two Jesuit Schools consistently, significantly rated higher by U.S. News

[Galway Eagle]

I would have to look but I believe they are usually in the top 50 or so and dropped slightly. But they are part of those other two Jesuit Schools consistently, significantly rated higher by U.S. News

Yeah I mean maybe it's just my familiarity with the schools brand but I think of GTown and BC as on par with some of the Ivys, Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Northwestern, Notre Dame, etc. whereas I don't get that same vibe about Fordham, though I also didn't expect Nova to be ranked so high when they went national either so it might just be me living under rock.

[Billy Hoyle]

Yeah I mean maybe it's just my familiarity with the schools brand but I think of GTown and BC as on par with some of the Ivys, Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Northwestern, Notre Dame, etc. whereas I don't get that same vibe about Fordham, though I also didn't expect Nova to be ranked so high when they went national either so it might just be me living under rock.

Fordham benefits due to its location in NYC. LMU being in LA.

Gonzaga being ahead of us is surprising.  Just 20 years ago that school was in death's door with plummeting enrollment and layoffs, and had scheduled a vote to drop athletics to D3. Then "the slipper still fits" run began... Not unlike BC and "The Flutie Factor" I guess

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

#5

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/xavier-university-3144

Typo, thanks for the correction.

[shoothoops]

Yeah I mean maybe it's just my familiarity with the schools brand but I think of GTown and BC as on par with some of the Ivys, Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Northwestern, Notre Dame, etc. whereas I don't get that same vibe about Fordham, though I also didn't expect Nova to be ranked so high when they went national either so it might just be me living under rock.

I also forgot Santa Clara at 53 for Jesuit Schools.

[Galway Eagle]

I also forgot Santa Clara at 53 for Jesuit Schools.

Wow well we've got best of the Midwest... which is something... sort of.

[Billy Hoyle]

I also forgot Santa Clara at 53 for Jesuit Schools.

Proximity to Silicon Valley is huge for them, especially for fundraising. Their endowment is over $1 billion.

[Not A Serious Person]

Two Jesuit Schools. 

                            MU      Santa Clara
National Rank        88           56
Overall Score         62           69
Best Value             52           104
Best Teaching         18           24
Most Innovative       42          NR
Engineering             118        132


Even though Santa Clara is 32 spots higher than MU, MU actually is higher ranked in more subcategories.

The point is there is really not much difference between 56 and 88.  It is really marginal.  But since dozens and dozens of schools have the same ranking, a point here or there and a school and more 20 or 30 ranking spots.

[dgies9156]

A couple of observations:

1) Everything depends on what a family wants with their son or daughter. There are tangibles and intangibles to an education at every school in the United States. Nothing in the US News report, sponsored by a failing news magazine to gain clicks, changes the equation that governs where a young man or woman attends college.

2) The rankings are a bit like college admissions at a Ivy institution. There's a secret sauce somewhere but bygolly, I guarantee nobody has plans to release the computer programs for validation anytime soon.

3) If our basketball team were in the Top 10, I'll bet our rating would be considerably higher.

4) If Milwaukee was "cool" (i.e., not cold for you Cheeseheads), I'll bet our ranking would be considerably higher.

Final thought -- what goes it helps, but you take out of whatever school to which you attend means a whole lot more.