While looking at a college’s website I saw that it had a “Colleges of Distinction” badge and did a web search to find out more about the recognition. It appears as though colleges must be nominated at least two times before they are then researched to see if they qualify (nominations can also be from the college’s own employees). They are looking for four qualities: engaged students, great teaching, vibrant community, and successful outcomes. Frankly, it sounds a lot like Colleges That Change Lives, but it’s not limiting itself to small liberal arts colleges.
Its goals are commendable, but I’d be interested to know if people agree with the list(s) or not, at least based on the schools with which people are familiar. Here is the main list, though there are also lists for Career Development, Engineering, Equity & Inclusion, among others.
In CA, the main list has 20 schools which includes Concordia University, Dominican University, University of St. Katherine and Woodbury University. Oddly, Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCD and SDSU are not on the main list, the Career Development list or the Engineering list but they are all on the E&I list
The possibility of marketing crossed my mind as well. But could it be that those better-known institutions have more lectures, grad students teaching rather than professors, or…? Or is it designed as a way of finding places that are educationally worthwhile but not as well known, a la CTCL (which I feel have definitely become better known over the last 15 years, at least in the circles of people researching colleges for their kids).
According to whom? There’s no context for who is labeling it a college of distinction and what other colleges are comparable. What other colleges are on that list? This is just marketing.
I’ve recruited for big companies for over 35 and have had a lot of experience with a lot of career services operations on various campuses. This list is hilarious. It omits some of the top career development schools, includes some where I think the operation consists of “we use handshake for listings, log in with this password, good luck”.
Lindenwood in Missouri but not Missouri M&T? Various branches of the UT system but not Austin? A bunch of small colleges which routinely end up on the “financially troubled list” for their bond ratings?
Engineering rankings- U Mass Lowell but not MIT? Messiah U in Pennsylvania but not CMU?
I don’t think so. Good luck using these lists for anything illuminating.