US News & World Report Ranking

SDonCC
Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:57:34 +0000

Dave72, obviously I meant to say that Oberlin is a third bigger than Williams; the point is, it’s not twice as big…

The proportion of spending on FA is misleading, IMO, because Williams and, I imagine, Swarthmore and Amherst, is / are known for meeting full need and needs-blind admissions, so even if the percentage of the budget is smaller, the financial needs of the students and the commitment to diversity that needs-blind admissions foloows is met.

My point is: if Oberlin’s endowment were on a par with WAS, then its per pupil spending might be, too…

The top five LAC endowments are bigger than most univerisities in this country.

FWIW, my kids didn’t look at, know about or care about rankings. I did, to a certain extent even though I know that these lists are NOT an indicator of institutional quality. At least in our home, however, I never said a word to my kids about these lists, and they made their own decisions. It came entirely down to fit and particular
interests.