I will give a plug to U of Illinois for their library(ies). I worked at Inter library Loan in the late 1970s and that was one library that we always borrowed from or requested articles from and they were nice about it.
Princeton is in a class by itself in this regard.
Reunions just happened this weekend. Out of 1150 people in the class of 1995, 800 came to celebrate their 30th after missing their 25th because of COVID.
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that is wild! For comparison.. I went to another school that is always very high on these lists⊠I have a big reunion this year, and from data I can see (pretty accurate) I think 35%-40% of the class is in attendance. (Far more âattendeesâ as a lot of people bring kids..and spouses).
I am also younger than class of 95 so still have a lot of kids with childcare issues..but regardless nowhere near that!
@gotham_mom and @fretfulmother, I just returned from Princeton reunions along with 26,000 people. There were about 1200 people in the 50th reunion class. With some attrition and about 10% death, there were about 1000 people who could have come to reunions. Between 400 and 500 came back from all over the world, including Jay Powell and numerous folks with distinguished careers (presidents of universities and CEOs of corporations, private equity folks, big firm lawyers, judges and distinguished medical researchers, politicians, etc.). Bill Bradley comes every five years. ShawWife (and other spouses) are amazed and cannot imagine any other school that generates the same level of affection. She says it feels cult-like (songs with hand motions, etc.) People loved it and feel grateful they were able to study there. Harvard does not engender the same feeling â people love the fact that they have a Harvard degree but they do not love the place in anywhere close to the same way. Stanford has similar affection but I think in a more low-key way.
Two measures that I have thought was relevant was the percentage of alumni who give and the percentage of alumni who give every year. Princeton leads among large universities by quite a bit. Dartmouth and Notre Dame are relatively high on those lists.
When I looked at this years ago, among LACs, Williams, Amherst, Carleton, and a couple of schools that are less well known (Berea and Centre College) are high and can be even higher percentages than Princeton.
I have just done a couple of web searches and canât find exactly what I had found year ago. This is an older list of alumni who gave in both of two years:
| School (state) | Two-year average percentage of alumni who donated | U.S. News rank and category |
|---|---|---|
| Princeton University (NJ) | 55% | 1, National Universities |
| Williams College (MA) | 50% | 1, National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Bowdoin College (ME) | 47% | 6 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Alice Lloyd College (KY) | 46% | 26 (tie), Regional Colleges (South) |
| Amherst College (MA) | 45% | 2, National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Carleton College (MN) | 45% | 9 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Thomas Aquinas College (CA) | 45% | 40 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| College of the Holy Cross (MA) | 44% | 36 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Dartmouth College (NH) | 44% | 13, National Universities |
| Wellesley College (MA) | 44% | 4 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
Here is a newer list of a one year snapshot:
School
Average Percentage of Alumni Who Donated in 2022-2023
Rank and Category
46.6%
1, National Universities
41.4%
15 (tie), National Universities
34.1%
8 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
United States Military Academy at West Point (NY)
33.5%
8 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
33.3%
18 (tie), National Universities
College of the Holy Cross (MA)
32.1%
28 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
27.1%
19 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
26.8%
34 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
26.3%
22 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Southern Illinois UniversityâCarbondale
24.3%
288 (tie), National Universities
23.2%
36 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
22.8%
7, National Liberal Arts Colleges
22.5%
12 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
21.6%
2, National Universities
21.4%
132 (tie), National Universities
20.8%
18 (tie), National Universities
20.7%
273 (tie), National Universities
19.9%
14 (tie), National Universities
19.8%
24 (tie), National Universities
19.7%
5, National Universities
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Can confirm that just about every Princeton grad I know posted pics of the reunion on Facebook.
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I find this an odd one given that all of us taxpayers are contributing to this particular âendowmentâ and see no reason why alums should be hit up for more (on top of their conscriptions for crying out loud), which reminds me of the phone call I received from the West Point Association of Graduates during their annual fundraiser during our sonâs Plebe year. I asked what West Point needed money for that my taxes werenât covering. The caller started in about the study abroad programs. I said, âWait. You mean that all-expense paid trip to Afghanistan doesnât count?â They never called me again.
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That is a bad look. Especially from a Federal Government that routinely tries to deny Veterans benefits.
It is like they are putting out a tip jar.
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Fabulous response.
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Did you see last year on April Foolâs Day that the Rice website changed its page to read, Quinoa? I laughed for days â definitely a dad-joke level of nerdiness, but it was fun. 
I also love the t-shirts that the Hispanic student association sells that say Arroz. 
Iâm biased as a current mom, of course, but most people my daughter encounters have never heard of Rice.
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Yep. I live in the heart of the SEC (and went to one of these schools) â alum from all of them are super extra to an obnoxious level. 
Otherwise, I think of Duke, Carolina, Michigan, THE Ohio State UniversityâŠand Notre Dame.
No one is bragging much about the California schools here in the southeast.
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Nothing to take too seriously, but this is an attempt to measure the âvisibilityâ of global universities (see methodology for details):
Schools like Rice, Vanderbilt, WashU, Emory, Georgetown, in fact Brown, Dartmouth, and so on rank below a lot of public universities and some privates that, say, have a significantly lower US News National Universities ranking. Even Princeton has a relatively low ranking in this sort of measure.
This is probably going to sound stuffy, maybe elitist, but I actually like it better when these sorts of colleges are seen this way, almost more like LACs in fact. People in the know value the undergraduate experience very highly, other people have never heard of them, or only have vague impressions. Relevant to the topic at hand, I actually do think that sort of branding encourages stronger alum feelingsâyou are not so much buying a degree from some multinational Megabrand U, you are part of a special community who shared a special experience.
And I think that becomes relevant when you start thinking seriously about things like networking. There is a casual assumption in certain circles that going to a college with is more popularly famous must be better for networking. I think it is way more complicated than that, and that in fact sometimes well-positioned alums of special relationship colleges like this are more likely to actually do something to help recent graduates, or possibly even recent graduates of colleges they see as similar. Whereas Megabrand U graduatesâI think it can be more hit or miss whether that translates into such feelings, and then even when it does you may end up with a lot of fellow recent graduates trying to work the same well-positioned people.
Anyway, just some random thoughts about how what you are describing about Rice might fit into these general dynamics.
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This is interesting! Iâve often wondered if Riceâs lack of name recognition bothered my D22, but it doesnât seem to â her undergrad experience has been truly special. She loves the school so much. And sheâs hoping that it will give her an edge with upcoming grad school applications â because the average person may not know it, but college admissions departments certainly do.
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Seems like there is a strong correlation between the global visibility of these schools and their QS ranking. Although many in the US think of the QS ranking as heavily UK-biased, it certainly is quite successful in shaping the perception of universities by people outside the US.
Iâm not sure if it is QS causing the effect so much as it is just measuring the same effect, but I agree there are some common themes you often see in various global university rankings.
Not to get off on too much of a tangent (and I will try to connect back), but I think the US higher education system is really very unusual in terms of having so much focus specifically on the undergrad level, such that many prominent institutions either are entirely undergrad, or at least are more undergrad focused. And I do think it can be a real issue for Internationals to try to understand all that when that is not usually how it works in their country.
But (and here is the connection back), I do think that is all part of why people in the US can sometimes think more in terms of a special relationship with their undergrad. Indeed, I think many of us would agree that in career terms, where we got our grad and professional degrees was probably more important. But in terms of formative experiences, lifelong friends, and so on, undergrad often takes on a much bigger role.
OK, so how do you do a global ranking when in one prominent country, there is this unusual focus on undergrad to the point it fundamentally affects the structure of many prominent institutions, and yet in most countries that focus and those structures are very uncommon and generally far less prominent?
I personally think the answer is you canât. And thatâs OK.
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I wear my Arroz T-shirt all the time. Itâs in the Gothic Rice font. No one ever gets it. 
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Growing up in Columbus, it pains me to say anything nice about Michigan, but I was recently in Europe for seven weeks and was surprised at all the Michigan shirts and hats. It was by far the most represented US university. What was funny was seeing someone in Michigan gear and someone in Ohio State gear standing about five feet apart in Venice. (Or somewhere in Italy.)
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So knew nothing about Clemson before our daughter enrolled, but noticed the alumni love, Princeton review lists it high for public universities Top 20 Best Alumni Networks (Public Schools) | The Princeton Review
Some things are just plain wrong:
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I went to Europe with my cousin the summer after she graduated from Michigan- it was bonkers and a running joke that we ran into people she knew in every single place we went. Mostly sporting their Michigan gear.
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Just came back from vacation in Northern Europe. Penn State was the most represented school we saw but we also saw a Bates sweatshirt!
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