MSU ranks last in Big Ten college rankings

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Finance sophomore Shelley Karlins chose where she would spend the next four years of her undergraduate education, the sprawling campus and a solid business program trumped college rankings in her decision to study at MSU.

Still, MSU ranks last in the Big Ten Conference for best colleges in the U.S., according to a 2011 college ranking study recently conducted by U.S. News & World Report. This rank could change when the University of Nebraska becomes a part of the conference in 2011.

MSU was ranked 79th nationally, while the University of Nebraska was ranked 104.

MSU was ranked 71st last year by U.S. News & World Report.

The ranking system takes into account various criteria including academic reputation, faculty resources, financial resources, alumni giving statistics, graduation and retention rates and admissions information, among other data said Robert Morse, the director of data research for U.S. News & World Report.

“We collect statistical data from each school once a year,” Morse said. “We weight those factors and sort the schools by individual scores in descending order.”

James Cotter, director of the MSU Office of Admissions, said although the university takes rankings seriously, student fit is the most important criterion for choosing the right school.

“There should be no more important opinion in the evaluation process than the student’s judgment,” Cotter said. “It’s critical that they go beyond the rankings to learn about the institution by visiting campus and meeting faculty.”

Cotter said it also is important that students and parents consider the methodology used to create such reports.

“It’s important to look at how the surveys are conducted and the rankings created,” he said. “Are the criteria that U.S. News & World Report use to define their rankings important to the student? There’s no better ranking than the fit of the student themselves.”

The University of Michigan was ranked 29th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

U-M spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald said although the university is delighted to be ranked one of the nation’s top universities, it also believes that strict numerical rankings are not the best way to choose a college.

“Here we don’t think that there is any such thing as a single number one school for anyone,” Fitzgerald said. “That just doesn’t exist. What matters far more is the match of the student.”

Karlins said although she kept a close eye on school rankings, she ended up only applying to MSU.

“I was thinking about a few other Big Ten schools and the business school here was actually ranked higher in my specific major than the other schools I was planning on applying too,” she said. “I really liked that the campus is really big and there’s a lot to do.”

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