<p>^^I think it’s a mistake to get too wrapped up in the sausage-making of running a modern educational institution; you can’t take the USNews methodologies as a literal recipe to be followed by each and every college in the country. Big classes? When you have that kind of spread between large and small classes at a place of Wesleyan’s stature, my first thought is those must be very popular teachers. Wesleyan should be thanking their lucky stars that they have them, not worrying how they affect their ranking in a magazine poll.</p>
<p>Another misleading example is faculty compensation. It’s enormously complicated. Do the USNews numbers include sabbatical leaves? Teaching loads? Availability of jobs for one’s spouse? Proximity to great research centres? I don’t think they do and quite frankly, there is a premium to be paid in order to get any adult under the age of 30 to settle in an isolated village in northern New England.</p>
<p>And just to get off the subject, it is inconceivable to me that a top national research university could attract more than twice the outside funding of its nearest rival, and finish less than in the top five of its category. But, because Wesleyan is an LAC and not a huge research university, it is being underrated.</p>
<p>Atidrep is right: the numbers are NUTTY.</p>