The Triangle

Issue date: 8/25/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs

The University was recently rated as the number one college with a "Tiny, Unsightly, or Both" campus by The Princeton Review. In another survey conducted by the U.S. News and World Report, Drexel was ranked 112th among national universities. These ratings have provoked considerable reaction among both the administration and the students.

"First of all, I think it's important to keep in mind that all of these rankings are subjective," said Provost Stephen Director. "As such, they are not necessarily reliable, and there is always considerable controversy surrounding them."

"Drexel University is an excellent university with some of the very best faculty," said Anthony Caneris, senior vice president for student life and administrative services. "People often put a lot of weight in rankings, and of course we would like any ranking to accurately reflect a truthful majority, but sometimes they may only reflect a minority."

In U.S. News' rankings of the National Universities: Top Schools for 2007, the University holds 112th spot, which it shares with eight other institutions. University of Pennsylvania was ranked seventh spot and Carnegie Mellon University 21st.

"Drexel is pleased to be among U.S. News & World Report's National Universities: Top Schools for the fourth year in a row," said Philip Terranova, vice president for University Relations. "Drexel has made strides in recent years that no other university has made, most notably by acquiring the College of Medicine and opening the College of Law."

Director pointed out that the metrics used to determine these rankings often ignore significant factors that students might be interested in.

"A case in point is that Drexel's co-op program, which is one of the finest in the country, is not at all considered in the U.S. News evaluation," Director said. "One other point is that a significant factor in the rankings is the evaluation made by college presidents, provosts and admissions officers. In many cases, these individuals are not knowledgeable about the universities that they are asked to rank."

The University's overall score in the U.S. News survey was 41. The faculty resources rank was 104, financial resources rank was 62, and the alumni giving rank was 78. Among the programs and departments of the University, the business program was ranked 99, and the engineering program was ranked 53.

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