Now that I’ve taken a more detailed look at the results, here are some details in the US News rankings:
UF’s overall score is 78 (same as UNC and UCSB ). Lets also compare it to UNC, UCSB and UVa(who’s score is 80).
The rankings are based on 6 major areas (see my earlier post on the details).
Outcomes (40% of the score).
UF’s outcomes rank #9 out of National Universities (not just publics). UNC and UCSB both ranked #16. UVa is ranked 28th. This is UF’s strongest category.
UF>UNC=UCSB>UVa
Expert Opinion (20%).
UF’s peer assessment score (out of 5) is 3.8. UNC is 4.2 and UCSB is 3.6. UVa is 4.3.
UVa>UNC>UF>UCSB
Faculty Resources (20%).
UF faculty resources ranked at #48.
UCSB>UVa>UF>UNC
UCSB is significantly better than UVa, while UNC is significantly worse than UF. Not what I would have expected. Faculty salaries at UCSB are high (ranked #11) while class size (but not student to faculty ratio) and % of faculty that are full time (88%) seem to be the issues at UNC.
Financial Resources (10%)
UNC>UVa>UF>UCSB
Student Excellence (7%)
UVa>UCSB>UF>UNC
Alumni Giving (3%)
UVa>UF=UCSB>UNC
UF (and UNC and UCSB) are being driven up the rankings due to great student outcomes (which is great for those of us with students at these schools). UF has also made improvements in all other areas used in the rankings.