Tulane ranked 50th in U.S. News

In a recent report released by U.S. News and World Report, Tulane ranked 50 among national universities, an important change from last year’s 51st place ranking.

This change is the result of a collaborative effort from both students and administration.

Each year U.S. News compiles a list of the top 50 universities in the country.  The list is based on several different factors including peer assessment, faculty and financial resources, alumni donations and graduation and retention rates.

Peer assessment is the only factor in the ranking decision that has a subjective basis. In the assessment, provosts from different colleges are surveyed on their opinions of how each college should be ranked.

“We hope to see a return to our pre-Katrina peer assessment rating,” Associate Director of Admissions Jeffrey Schiffman said, referring to the dip in the assessment ratings after Hurricane Katrina.

Tulane Provost Michael Bernstein said that the most influential factor affecting Tulane’s boost in rankings is the quality of the students and faculty.

“The most important thing is communication, getting the word out that Tulane is a great university,” Bernstein said.

This year, 9,000 students were admitted from a record 40,000 applicants. The large number of applicants allowed the admissions counselors to be much more selective in their decisions, Schiffman said.

“We want to continue to increase our selectivity,” said Cynthia Cherrey, vice president of student affairs.

In the past, retention and graduation rates have been lower than that of other schools, partly because of policies that Tulane had in place that prevented sophomores from coming back because of minor conduct issues, Bernstein said. The lack of resources invested in tutoring and counseling services was also a factor. Tulane is currently working to amend these problems.

Bernstein said that if the quality of the students continues to increase, retention rates could reach higher than 90 percent.

In addition to the U.S. News report ranking, Tulane has a longstanding tradition of being a research-intensive university with a highly-respected undergraduate program. Its research and educational partnerships include institutions around the world.

“It’s not a focus on U.S. News,” Cherrey said. “It’s a focus on providing better and better academic quality.”