How hard students work and how much they get back for their efforts, on a scale of 60-99. This rating is calculated from student survey results and statistical information reported by administrators. Factors weighed include how many hours students study outside of the classroom and the quality of students the school attracts. We also considered students' assessments of their professors, class size, student-teacher ratio, use of teaching assistants, amount of class discussion, registration, and resources. Please note that if a school has an Academic Rating of 60*, it means that the school did not report to us a sufficient number of the statistics that go into the rating by our deadline.
This rating measures how competitive admissions are at the school. This rating is determined by several institutionally-reported factors, including: the class rank, average standardized test scores, and average high school GPA of entering freshmen; the percentage of students who hail from out-of-state; and the percentage of applicants accepted. By incorporating all these factors, our Admissions Selectivity Rating adjusts for "self-selecting" applicant pools. University of Chicago, for example, has a very high rating, even though it admits a surprisingly large proportion of its applicants. Chicago's applicant pool is self-selecting; that is, nearly all the school's applicants are exceptional students. This rating is given on a scale of 60-99. Please note that if a school has an Admissions Selectivity Rating of 60*, it means that the school did not report to us enough of the statistics that go into the rating in order for us to accurately measure its admissions selectivity.
This rating measures how much financial aid a school awards and how satisfied students are with that aid, on a scale of 60-99. This rating is based on school-reported data on the percentage of students who were determined to have need and received aid, the percentage of need met for those students, and the percentage of students whose need was fully met. Student survey data that measures students' satisfaction with the financial aid they receive is also considered. Please note that if a school has a Financial Aid Rating of 60*, it means that the school did not report to us all of the statistics that go into the rating by our deadline.
This rating measures how well prepared a school is to prevent or respond to campus fires, on a scale of 60-99.
We asked all the schools we annually collect data from to answer several questions about their efforts to ensure fire safety for campus residents. The questions were developed in consultation with the Center for Campus Fire Safety and cover:
1) The percentage of student housing sleeping rooms protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system with a fire sprinkler head located in the individual sleeping rooms
"There is no question that automatic fire sprinklers are effective tools in saving lives. A single sprinkler head can activate and control or extinguish the fire in much less time than it would take for the fire department to respond. This immediately reduces the danger to the occupants of the both the room where the fire broke out and the rest of the building, potentially saving lives."
2) The percentage of student housing sleeping rooms equipped with a smoke detector connected to a supervised fire alarm system
"Smoke alarms provide the critically needed early warning for the occupants of the room on fire. A smoke alarm that is connected to the building fire alarm system also warns the rest of the occupants to evacuate and it also sends a signal to a monitored location, such as security, who can notify the fire department to start responding immediately."
3) The number of malicious fire alarms that occur in student housing per year
"A malicious false alarm is one where someone deliberately activates the building fire alarm system, knowing that no emergency exists. This can create a "cry wolf" syndrome among the students and they can start to ignore the alarms, which can have a tragic outcome. Schools should act aggressively to eliminate these alarms."
4) The number of unwanted fire alarms that occur in student housing per year
"An unwanted fire alarm activation is one where the fire alarm system is activated by conditions such as a dirty smoke detector or a smoke detector located in a kitchen or next to a shower. As with the malicious false alarms, this can create a situation where the occupants will stop responding to the alarms. It is critical that the school identify the root cause of the alarm and fix the conditions and eliminate these alarm activations."
5) The banning of certain hazardous items and activities in residence halls, like candles, smoking, halogen lamps, etc.
"It is important to reduce the number of potential ignition sources in any student's room. By doing so, a school not only helps to safeguard the occupants of the residence hall, but also demonstrates its commitment to fire safety."
6) The percentage of student housing building fire alarm systems that, if activated, result in a signal being transmitted to a monitored location on campus or the fire department.
"Whenever a fire breaks out, it is critically important to reduce the time between ignition and extinguishing the fire. Anything that extends the amount of time for the response of the fire department only places more people in danger and allows the fire to grow larger. Delaying the fire department's response to a fire can create an extremely dangerous situation."
Colleges that did not supply answers to a sufficient number of these safety questions for us to fairly compare them to other colleges receive a Fire Safety Rating of 60*. The schools have an opportunity to update their fire safety data every year and will have their fire safety ratings re-calculated and published annually.
All italicized quotations are from Mike Halligan, Director of the Center for Campus Fire Safety.
How happy students are with their lives outside the classroom, on a scale of 60-99. We weighed several factors, including students' assessments of their overall happiness; the beauty, safety, and location of the campus; the comfort of dorms; the quality of food; the ease of getting around campus and dealing with administrators; the friendliness of fellow students; the interaction of different student types; and the quality of the school's relationship with the local community.
The Green College Rating is based on a number of questions that evaluate the comprehensive measure of a school’s performance as an environmentally aware and responsible institution. Specifically, it includes: 1) whether students have a campus quality of life that is both healthy and sustainable; 2) how well a school is preparing students not only for employment in the clean energy economy of the 21st century, but also for citizenship in a world now defined by environmental challenges; and 3) how environmentally responsible a school’s policies are. The questions schools were asked were developed in consultation with ecoAmerica, a research and partnership-based environmental nonprofit that convened an expert committee to design this comprehensive ranking system.
In conducting our research, we asked all the schools we annually collect data from to answer 28 questions about their efforts to provide and continually develop an environmentally responsible student experience. Their corresponding Green College Rating is on a scale of 60-99. Colleges that did not supply answers to a sufficient number of the sustainability questions for us to fairly compare them to other colleges receive a Sustainability Rating of 60*. The schools have an opportunity to update their sustainability data every year and will have their sustainability ratings re-calculated and published annually.
Some of the questions asked include:
- The percentage of food expenditures that goes toward local, organic or otherwise environmentally preferable food?
- Whether the school offers programs including free bus passes, universal access transit passes, bike sharing/renting, car sharing, carpool parking, vanpooling or guaranteed rides home to encourage alternatives to single-passenger automobile use for students
- .Whether the school has a formal committee with participation from students that is devoted to advancing sustainability on campus?
- Whether new buildings are required to be LEED (environmental certification of equipment/appliances) Silver certified or comparable?
- The school’s overall waste diversion rate?
- Whether the school has an environmental studies major, minor or concentration?
- Whether a school has produced a publicly available greenhouse gas emissions inventory and adopted a climate action plan consistent with 80 percent greenhouse gas reductions by 2050 targets?
- And many more!
Total number of degree-seeking undergraduate students. Colleges and universities often enroll students who are not necessarily accumulating credits toward a specific degree. Such a student may be returning to school for professional development, for example, or for their own desire to learn. While non-degree seeking students add elements of diversity to a college or university, their experiences are often different in many ways from degree-seeking undergraduate students, and they are usually fewer in number.
The 25th percentile is the score that 25 percent scored at or below; the 75th percentile score is the one that 25 percent scored at or above. The middle 50 is the range between the 25th and 75th percentile.
SAT - Critical Reading Middle 50%
The 25th percentile is the score that 25 percent scored at or below; the 75th percentile score is the one that 25 percent scored at or above. The middle 50 is the range between the 25th and 75th percentile.
The 25th percentile is the score that 25 percent scored at or below; the 75th percentile score is the one that 25 percent scored at or above. The middle 50 is the range between the 25th and 75th percentile.
The 25th percentile is the score that 25 percent scored at or below; the 75th percentile score is the one that 25 percent scored at or above. The middle 50 is the range between the 25th and 75th percentile.
