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August 28, 2006
Consensus in: Emory ranks high in U.S. News

BY ELAINE JUSTICE

It’s the season of university rankings, and Emory has been recognized by a plethora of media outlets and experts for its stature as a national university, its “Ivy League” qualities, its ability to attract top students and even its relationship with the Atlanta community.

U.S. News & World Report remained the BMOC (big magazine on campus) by ranking Emory 18th among 248 national universities in its annual “America’s Best Colleges” guide. Emory has been in the top 20 since 1994 and this year improved its standing by two places over last year. In a specialized list, Emory’s Goizueta Business School was rated 13th nationally in the magazine survey of undergraduate business programs, up from 18th last year.

Kaplan/Newsweek’s 2007 “How to Get Into College Guide,” released just days before U.S. News’ rankings, tapped Emory for its first-ever list of 25 “New Ivies.” The group included colleges whose first-rate academic programs and population boom in top students have fueled their rise in stature and favor among the nation’s top students, administrators and faculty. Emory was the only school in Georgia named and one of five Southern schools.

The free-wheeling Princeton Review, known for its anticipated list of top party schools, bypassed Emory on that designation, but did rank the university’s library 13th in the nation.

Not to be outdone by the major magazines, Evan Dobelle, president of the New England Board of Higher Education and an expert on higher education and cities, cited Emory as one of 25 urban schools that have dramatically strengthened the economy and quality of life of their neighboring communities.

“These designations are an external validation of the work of many people at Emory to provide a distinctive education for our students—one where students discover what they’re good at and then use their talents to make the world a better place,” said Provost Earl Lewis. “Emory is a place where we strive to get better and better. Our students experience this commitment first-hand.”

“Our faculty tie research and teaching closely together, and the work they do comes into the classroom,” Lewis said. “That’s attractive to many students. Our students also benefit from Emory’s Atlanta location, with all its extraordinary cultural and professional resources.”

Goizueta Business School advanced five slots in this year’s U.S. News rankings, which comes on the heels of its number No. 5 ranking among undergraduate business programs released this spring by BusinessWeek. “We are honored that our undergraduate business program is being acknowledged for the strength of our globally recognized faculty and strong student experience,” said Larry Benveniste, dean of Goizueta.

Andrea Hershatter, associate dean and director of Goizueta’s undergraduate business program, saidys the school augmented its leadership development programming this year “so that our students are prepared to make increasingly significant positive contributions to the organizations in which they will work and to society as a whole.”

Commenting on The Princeton Review’s library ranking, Vice Provost and Director of University Libraries Rick Luce said that efforts to integrate a variety of functions into Emory’s libraries have provided “a sense of place and integrative social and virtual spaces, in addition to traditional roles supporting reading and research. It’s gratifying to be recognized for that.”

In the U.S. News survey, Emory’s overall rankings on individual components included a 15th place ranking in student selectivity, a 4.0 out of 5 in academic reputation, 12th in faculty resources, 16th in overall financial resources and 25th in graduation and retention.

U.S. News’ faculty resources rank (20 percent of the final score) is an indicator that is mainly derived from faculty compensation and average class size. At 12th place, Emory had a higher ranking on this measure than Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, Stanford and several other highly ranked universities.

Emory was 21st among national universities offering the best value in the U.S. News survey. Rankings in this category were based on academic quality and the net cost to a student receiving the average amount of financial aid.

Emory’s rate of alumni giving was 36 percent, which placed it 15th in that category. A reporting error last year showed a decline in the rate of alumni giving when in fact the rate had increased. “We were undervalued in this area, but we caught the error and are glad to give our alumni the recognition they deserve,” said Allison Dykes, vice president for alumni relations.

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