Entries for November 2009

U.S. News has compiled a new ranking to determine which top-ranked public universities in the 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges have the largest percentage of out-state-students. This new ranking is useful if you are a prospective student looking to apply to a public university outside your own state, since it will enable you to determine which top publics have the largest and smallest enrollments from out of state. It will also give you some indication of the likelihood of getting accepted.

Here are the highlights:

On December 10, U.S. News will publish online its third annual America's Best High Schools rankings of public high schools in the United States. This year, we are planning to expand these rankings to include all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

The rankings will reach newsstands and monthly magazine subscribers starting around December 17, as part of the January 2010 issue.

To produce America's Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News teams up with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor's. SES developed the comprehensive methodology, which reflects how well high schools serve all their students, not just those who are collegebound.

The Government Accountability Office has concluded that the U.S. News Best Law Schools rankings are one the key factors behind skyrocketing law school tuitions. That's according to an October report by the GAO entitled "Higher Education: Issues Related to Law School Cost and Access."

The GAO said that, "according to law school officials, the move to a more hands-on, resource-intensive approach to legal education and competition among schools for higher rankings appear to be the main factors driving the cost of law school, while ABA accreditation requirements appear to play a minor role. Additionally, officials at public law schools reported that recent decreases in state funding are a contributor to rising tuition at public schools."

We've just started the data collection for the upcoming 2011 edition of America's Best Graduate Schools, which will be published in early spring 2010. The statistical survey data collection for business, law, engineering, medicine, and education programs began at the end of October on our password-secured website. The deadline to complete the statistical surveys is in early December 2009.

The grad school peer assessment surveys also have gone out in the field. Our goal was to have all the first mailings sent out by October 30. The peer surveys have roughly eight weeks in the field, with a second survey mailing going to those who don't respond the first time. U.S. News works with a contractor, Synovate, to administer the peer survey mailings.