US News 2017 rankings

IzzoOne
Sun, 27 Nov 2016 12:39:08 +0000

Alexandre,

If you just are referring to wealth in an accounting sense, it would be assets minus liabilities (debts). The assets could include endowments, cash reserves, and tangible assets (property, land). It would NOT include state contributions or anything else. Debt can impact this significantly, but there is good debt and bad debt. If it is debt that ultimately makes benefits the institution down the road, it is good. If it is used to close a budget gap due to profligacy, it is bad.

But again, I don’t think it should costs an arm and a leg to provide a really good education to undergraduates. It is things that are not very easily quantifiable that make the difference. Is there a good sense of community? Are the faculty actually good teachers? (I visited friends in great schools in college who had science lectures delivered by graduate students who were all but incomprehensible.) Does the institution actually commit its resources to undergraduate study. (Many top faculty don’t teach undergraduates.) Does the institution have rigorous standards?