College Rankings
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 University Rankings, click here.
For the September, 2008 College 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 (www.LanguageMonitor.com) 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.