Post by FIUFanatic on Mar 12, 2007 16:30:05 GMT -5
Interesting article that appeared on US News and World Report, and commented in a blog, with its pluses and minuses. Pretty interesting in general, and in particular to FIU, where it makes a reference comparing it to UF in terms of lower SAT entry scores and alumni giving back to the University, while not taking into account the fact it seems FIU grads make more money on average than UF counterparts.
mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2007/03/no_child_left_b.html
mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2007/03/no_child_left_b.html
"U.S. News rankings heavily weight the wealth of a school, through things like spending per student, rather than how much a student learns," says Kevin Carey, a researcher at the nonpartisan think tank Education Sector.
Unless colleges release them, U.S. News does not have access to such data. But if such measures were incorporated, the rankings could change. Florida, for example, makes data about student learning public, often with surprising results. The average student at the University of Florida, for example, has SAT scores a full 100 points higher than those at Florida International University. There are fewer full-time faculty members at FIU, and only 4 percent of alumni donate money back to the school, compared with 18 percent of University of Florida grads. Those are just two reasons that the University of Florida ranks higher than FIU in the U.S. News list. Yet the average earnings of FIU grads—only one measure, to be sure—are significantly higher than those of their University of Florida counterparts.
Unless colleges release them, U.S. News does not have access to such data. But if such measures were incorporated, the rankings could change. Florida, for example, makes data about student learning public, often with surprising results. The average student at the University of Florida, for example, has SAT scores a full 100 points higher than those at Florida International University. There are fewer full-time faculty members at FIU, and only 4 percent of alumni donate money back to the school, compared with 18 percent of University of Florida grads. Those are just two reasons that the University of Florida ranks higher than FIU in the U.S. News list. Yet the average earnings of FIU grads—only one measure, to be sure—are significantly higher than those of their University of Florida counterparts.
