[R i]

This table shows Virginia Schools, and where they ranked nationally. It also shows Tution and Student Population.

15 Washington and Lee University Virginia $54,843 2,193

36 University of Virginia-Main Campus Virginia $48,980 24,297

40 College of William and Mary Virginia $47,804 8,200

73 University of Richmond Virginia $54,460 4,348

115 Virginia Military Institute Virginia $41,745 1,605

116 Hampden-Sydney College Virginia $46,756 1,057

127 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Virginia $37,840 30,936

157 James Madison University Virginia $34,504 19,722

243 University of Mary Washington Virginia $33,208 5,170

248 George Mason University Virginia $39,334 33,320

253 Sweet Briar College Virginia $45,035 760

277 Hollins University Virginia $44,665 953

303 Randolph-Macon College Virginia $44,698 1,257

335 Roanoke College Virginia $46,922 2,057

364 Randolph College Virginia $42,762 576

417 Emory and Henry College Virginia $39,754 982

467 Christopher Newport University Virginia $33,379 4,990

515 Old Dominion University Virginia $30,799 24,753

518 Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia $38,067 31,627

549 Mary Baldwin College Virginia $37,350 1,783

563 Longwood University Virginia $34,994 4,860

584 Liberty University Virginia $30,634 64,096

http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/

[PAmedic]

based on what criteria? (too lazy to read the link)

[jbock13]

based on what criteria? (too lazy to read the link)

The rankings are based on five general categories: post graduate success (32.5%), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence, student satisfaction (27.5%), which includes professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore year retention rates, debt (17.5%), which penalizes schools for high student debt loads and default rates, four-year graduation rate (11.25%) and competitive awards (11.25%), which rewards schools whose students win prestigious scholarships and fellowships like the Rhodes, the Marshall and the Fulbright or go on to earn a Ph.D. The complete methodology is available here.

Yeah, there's numerous things that make us look bad using this formula, which isn't actually a bad formula. One, we all know the freshman who get sent here by their parents just to try to straighten them out. And then they leave when they get in trouble.

Four year graduation rate... need I say anymore?

Prestigious scholarships... funny thing is these scholarships don't go to the smartest anymore. They only go students who can "check the box", if you will.

That and I saw that Longwood is hardly anything but white people

[Purple Haize]

Do our victories in the Sasser and Directors Cup count? We WERE 95th in the Directors Cup.

[jbock13]

Do our victories in the Sasser and Directors Cup count? We WERE 95th in the Directors Cup.

Interesting, I can't find Marshall anywhere on this list.

[jbock13]

Here's the complete list of the formula. Go ahead and discredit this piece. Jbock has done his investigative reporting and found this:

1. Student Satisfaction (27.5%)
Scholarly Assessments of RateMyProfessors.com (17.5%)
Actual Freshman-to-Sophomore Retention Rates (5%)
Predicted vs. Actual Freshman-to-Sophomore Retention Rates (5%)


2. Post-Graduate Success (32.5%)
Listings of Alumni in Who’s Who in America (10%)
Salary of Alumni from Payscale.com (15%)
American Leaders List (7.5%)


3. Student Debt (17.5%)
Average Federal Student Loan Debt Load (10%)
Student Loan Default Rates (5%)
Predicted vs. Actual Percent of Students Taking Federal Loans (2.5%)

4. Four-year Graduation Rate (11.25%)
Actual Four-year Graduation Rate (8.75%)
Predicted vs. Actual Four-year Graduation Rate (2.5%)

5. Academic Success (11.25%)
Student Nationally Competitive Awards (7.5%)
Alumni Receiving PhDs (3.75%)

Ratemyprofessors? Where anyone can just write anything?!?!?

[ATrain]

#596 is Coastal.

Yay, we beat Coastal!!!

[Purple Haize]

So nothing for the Director's Cup ranking? Just imagine what our score would be if they had the vision to include those scores!

[From the class of 09]

2. Post-Graduate Success (32.5%)
Listings of Alumni in Who’s Who in America (10%)
Salary of Alumni from Payscale.com (15%)
American Leaders List (7.5%)

Who's Who?: Isn't this the book/scam they try to sell you and then they’ll put you name on it? Is this really an honor? I’m pretty sure I got tricked into this “honor” when I was in high school. Fool me once…

Payscale.com: How does this work exactly? I'm 99.9% Liberty has no idea what my income is and I'm 100% sure I wouldn't ever tell them. How does Payscale go about getting this info? I'm both skeptical and curious to where their data comes from.

American Leaders List: Ok this is better than the other two, although it would be a natural disadvantage to a school like us with a young demographic.

[Purple Haize]

Do our victories in the Sasser and Directors Cup count? We WERE 95th in the Directors Cup.

Interesting, I can't find Marshall anywhere on this list.

I'm sure because literacy rates count!

[jbock13]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer ... olleges-2/

09, if you're interested in reading the entire report, which is where I found the breakdown for the formula, use that link and download the hyperlink under "The complete methodology is available here."

It's 16 pages long.

[ballah09]

Liberty was ranked 535 last year so the fell pretty good. It will be interesting to see if Liberty falls in the US news ranking after finally getting ranked.