Yet another list…https://thelistwire.usatoday.com/story/life/2025/05/13/colleges-with-best-professorsin-the-u-s/83611613007/
“Data via Niche statistics”
Not sure it is really new if just re-ranking from niche?
Definitely seems like a filler article from a journalistic perspective, but I will say I don’t mind ANY attempt to direct more kids to actually considering things like the likely quality of their teachers, the institution’s dedication to undergraduate teaching, and so on. This is just a crude measure and I would not personally put a ton of weight on it, but, to me, it is at least suggesting the right sort of question.
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“Best Professors”???
The methodology is highly suspect. Somehow the author neglected to define the meaning of the term - or even his meaning.
Exactly! Niche rankings rely heavily on student surveys, and it’s difficult for students at one college to accurately compare their professors to those at other institutions.
Besides, for many students, the “best” professors are simply those who are easy graders.
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You more than others should know that students are generally the worst people to determine the quality of teaching while they are students.
Aside from the fact that stringent grading policies will reduce the number of students who will give a professor high scores, students will also ding professors who ask them to go beyond repeating and rephrasing the material. But the far larger problem is that gender, race, age, and physical appearance will all affect the ranking of a professor.
For example, in engineering, is has been shown that female professors consistently get worse scores, and that much of that is related to misogyny, either conscious or unconscious. For example, a male professor will be called “passionate”, while a female professor will be called “emotional”. Minority professors are graded lower, as are professors with accents that do not conform to standard American, and that includes southern accents. Physical appearance is also highly correlated to ranking.
I’m not even going to mention students with political or personal agendas, and group dynamics.
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Well, I would note that by my standards as an Upper Midwesterner . . .
. . . that was an EXTREMELY harsh criticism.
But yes, I agree these surveys are subject to many serious problems.
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Ah, despite Minnesota roots, I am not nearly as nice (many years in places which are far louder and blunter).
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