Spring Break
Editorial: Yet more disappointing rankings
By: Editorial Board
Issue date: 8/24/07 Section: Ed-Op
Originally published: 8/24/07 at 2:51 AM EST
Last update: 8/24/07 at 2:50 AM EST
Originally published: 8/24/07 at 2:51 AM EST
Last update: 8/24/07 at 2:50 AM EST
- Page 1 of 3 next >
Every year, a few weeks before most colleges begin the academic year, we have to deal with bad news. No, it's not the fact that our friends are heading off to school a whole month before us. It's the results of the U.S. News and Princeton Review annual college rankings.
Even though the rankings are pretty depressing, we do have one piece of good news for everyone: Drexel is no longer the ugliest campus in the nation - we're the second!
That honor now goes to the State University of New York at Albany, according to the Princeton Review's rankings. Finally, all the shiny glass buildings and fountains have paid off. We'll take issue with this rank though, because the data for the category was either taken before many campus improvements were constructed, or it could have been during that nightmarish time when the entire quad was closed to build the fountain.
The most alarming Princeton Review rankings were the distinction of being on the lists of schools with the least happy students, least accessible professors and most administrative overhead. Unfortunately, many of the issues highlighted by the rankings are simply the status quo for Drexel students.
The U.S. News rankings are equally disappointing. Drexel scored a dismal 39 out of 100, and ended up ranked 108 in the Best National Universities list. The College of Engineering's undergraduate program was ranked 57 among colleges that offered a doctorate and the Lebow College of Business did not make the list of best undergraduate business programs.
If President Papadakis wants to land Drexel in the top 100 of the U.S. News rankings any time soon, changes are mandatory. These problems won't just go away and Drexel will not improve if they are not addressed.
First, only 77 percent of Drexel's faculty is full-time according to U.S. News. This, coupled with the low marks students gave professors in the Princeton Review rankings, shows that something needs to be done about the academic experience at Drexel.
Even though the rankings are pretty depressing, we do have one piece of good news for everyone: Drexel is no longer the ugliest campus in the nation - we're the second!
That honor now goes to the State University of New York at Albany, according to the Princeton Review's rankings. Finally, all the shiny glass buildings and fountains have paid off. We'll take issue with this rank though, because the data for the category was either taken before many campus improvements were constructed, or it could have been during that nightmarish time when the entire quad was closed to build the fountain.
The most alarming Princeton Review rankings were the distinction of being on the lists of schools with the least happy students, least accessible professors and most administrative overhead. Unfortunately, many of the issues highlighted by the rankings are simply the status quo for Drexel students.
The U.S. News rankings are equally disappointing. Drexel scored a dismal 39 out of 100, and ended up ranked 108 in the Best National Universities list. The College of Engineering's undergraduate program was ranked 57 among colleges that offered a doctorate and the Lebow College of Business did not make the list of best undergraduate business programs.
If President Papadakis wants to land Drexel in the top 100 of the U.S. News rankings any time soon, changes are mandatory. These problems won't just go away and Drexel will not improve if they are not addressed.
First, only 77 percent of Drexel's faculty is full-time according to U.S. News. This, coupled with the low marks students gave professors in the Princeton Review rankings, shows that something needs to be done about the academic experience at Drexel.
