<p>"As far as Michigan being rated 6-20, I can’t seem to find any undergraduate rankings that put it in that range. On USNWR it’s #28, Forbes ranks it #30, Business Insider rates it #20.</p>
<p>Actually,that is not accurate. If anything, most undergraduate rankings have Michigan ranked among the top 20, including Forbes. Forbes ranks Michigan #30 overall, but that includes LACs. Among research universities (and I was only talking about research universities when I said Michigan would be rated among the top 20), Michigan is actually #20 according to Forbes, not that I think highly of the publication. As you pointed out, Business Insider, which you also mentioned, also rates Michigan #20. Washington Monthly ranks Michigan #12. Jack Gourman ranks Michigan among the top 5 undergraduate institutions in the US. In fact, the USNWR is the only ranking that I know of that ranks Michigan out of the top 20. The only constant between all those rankings is that none of them is reliable. </p>
<p>The USNWR has a methodology designed with private universities in mind. For example:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The USNWR does not include state appropriations and their impact on financial aid in their Financial Resources Ranking. Michigan’s financial standing is clearly among the top 15 in the US, arguably among the top 10. Its endowment of $8.4 billion is 6th largest in the land. When you factor in the $300 million in state appropriations, it is like adding $6 billion to the endowment. Other than HYPS, I cannot think of any university that has more financial resources than Michigan. Even on a per student basis, Michigan would be among the top 15 (with no real difference separating #10 from #15), and that would not take economies of scale and efficiencies into account. </p></li>
<li><p>Alumni donation rates. Public universities cannot solicit their alumni as aggressively as private universities do. Until recently, public universities did not even approach alums for donations while elite private universities have done so for ell over 100 years. Given the difference in philosophy and practice, it is not possible to compare public and private universities with each other. That being said, in recent years, Michigan has been blessed with generous donations from alums. In fact, if one were to look at donation size per donor, or even total donations per alum, Michigan would probably be among the top 10 or top 20. But given the differences in approach to soliciting donations…and reporting them, this criterion should not be part of any ranking that includes private and public universities.</p></li>
<li><p>Faculty resources rank is one of the most questionable. Private universities take such liberties in reporting class sizes and student to faculty ratios that it is impossible to trust this segment of the ranking. Most private universities pretend that graduate students do not exist and do not include graduate students in their calculations. Having student to faculty ratios in the 6:1 - 8:1 range may seem impressive, but if those universities included graduate students as do public universities, their ratios would increase to 11:1 or 12:1. Still excellent, but no longer impressive.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There is no doubt that if the USNWR improved its methodology and audited data for accuracy and consistency, public universities like Cal, Michigan and UVa would all be ranked among the top 20. </p>
<p>“The New York Times has it out of the Top 100 Global Universities according to corporate recruiting.”</p>
<p>The link you provided was not based on any survey conducted by the New York Times, it merely posted it. The link you provided above is based on a survey conducted by a French HR consulting firm, and the vast majority of the firms surveyed were European, with a few European-based firms in South America and North America included. The first year the survey was released, MSU was ranked in the top 50 while Michigan was not ranked in the top 100. The second year saw MSU drop out of the top 80 and Michigan jump in the top 100. It is fairly evident that many of those Europeans confused the two and rated MSU under the assumption it was Michigan. Eliminate confusion from the survey and Michigan would be ranked among the top 15 US universities. Not knowing the exact name of the University is not their fault. It is confusing to many Europeans that two universities can have the name “Michigan”. That is not to say that Michigan does not have a very strong reputation in Europe. The Times and the QS rankings, both released by British institutions, rank Michigan among the top 15 US universities. According to the Times, Michigan’s reputation ranking is #12 in the World and #9 in the US. Any US-based corporate recruiters’ ranking would definitely have Michigan among the top 15, if not among the top 10, depending on the industry.</p>
<p>Ironically, the WSJ did conduct a survey on employer sentiment, but I am not sure you will like it. Michigan was ranked #6 according to that survey.</p>
<p><a href=“Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ”>Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ;
<p>“Michigan’s graduate programs are top 10, its professional programs are top 15, and its undergrad is top 30. I would say that is a fair assessment of The University of Michigan as an overall institution.”</p>
<p>Not entirely fair. According to all graduate rankings, Michigan would actually be among the top 5 for graduate programs (behind only Cal, Harvard, Stanford and Princeton) and among the top 7 or 8 for professional programs. </p>
<p>For the reasons listed above, there is no undergraduate ranking that I respect, least of all the USNWR. I think Gerhard Casper (Yale-educated scholar, once dean of Chicago Law school and president of Stanford University from 1992-2000 said it best in his letter to the Editor if the USNWR:</p>
<p>“…I am extremely skeptical that the quality of a university - any more than the quality of a magazine - can be measured statistically. However, even if it can, the producers of the U.S. News rankings remain far from discovering the method. Let me offer as prima facie evidence two great public universities: the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of California-Berkeley. These clearly are among the very best universities in America - one could make a strong argument for either in the top half-dozen. Yet, in the last three years, the U.S. News formula has assigned them ranks that lead many readers to infer that they are second rate: Michigan 21-24-24, and Berkeley 23-26-27.”</p>
<p><a href=“Criticism of College Rankings - September 23, 1996”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/pres-provost/president/speeches/961206gcfallow.html</a></p>
<p>Dr. Casper’s opinion is fairly standard among the educated elites. Any ranking that has Cal and Michigan ranked out of the top 20 is highly suspicious, not just in academe, but also in most corporate circles. </p>