U.S. News & World Report ranked N.C. State at 106th among the best colleges in the nation. The University barely rattled the rankings as the largest research university in the state, but some students disregard the publication’s rankings.
Faculty resources, student selectivity, spending-per-student and student-teacher ratio are among the primary deciding factors of these rankings, according to U.S. News and Report’s College Compass. Some publications rank the university higher, while skeptics question the rankings’ legitimacy.
Timothy Crawford, freshman in engineering, said that he thinks it is important to take into consideration the large availability of colleges and majors at N.C. State.
“The reason that we could be ranked low is because we have a wide variety of majors to choose from. Schools like UNC-Chapel Hill specialize in specific majors but N.C. State gives more options in education,” Crawford said.
With UNC-Chapel Hill ranked 30th in the nation, Wake Forest 27th, and Duke 8th, N.C. State lags behind its Tobacco Road companions as the fourth-best Research University in the state, according to U.S. News.
Without program-specific consideration, some students believe the rankings are skewed.
Student selectivity plays a vital part in ranking, weighing in at 15 percent of the ranking system and placing pressure on undergraduate admissions to accept fewer students, according to the College Compass website.
Mick Kulokowski, assistant director of N.C. State News Services, said retention rates at the university — a large factor in most rankings — have recently gotten better, with retention rates from the 2008-2009 school year reaching 90.9 percent from 82 percent at one point.
U.S. News measures financial resources by average student spending on instruction, research, student services and student expenditures, and weighs these at 10 percent total.
“N.C. State [admission] is based on a holistic review of each application. As an academic institution, previous academic performance and potential are foremost in the admission decision of every applicant,” Thomas Griffin, undergraduate admissions director, said.
Suzanne Leonard, freshman in engineering, said that she thinks program-specific rankings mean more in the long run. “It doesn’t matter what N.C. State is ranked. Engineering is ranked among the top ten in biological and agriculture engineering.”
Outside of U.S. News rankings, N.C. State stands as a highly valued school, noted with high rankings in other publications like Kiplinger, Forbes, and the Princeton Review for employment outlook and in-state colleges.
N.C. State is ranked 16th on U.S. News’ “Up-and-Coming” list, and despite rankings, students and alumni continue to receive accolades in and out of the classroom.