“Penn State rises to No. 22 among public universities in 2027 US News ‘Best Colleges’”

[BobPSU92]

We’re on the rise! Go Neeli!

See the link below. From the article:

”Penn State rose to No. 22 among national public universities and No. 55 overall — increasing four places in both categories — in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges” ranking, released Sept. 22. Penn State also ranks No. 19 among Association of American Universities public institutions and is once again the top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania.

U.S. News defines the category of “National Universities” as schools that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master's and doctoral programs, and that emphasize faculty research. In total, 422 institutions made the list.

“Penn State’s continued recognition among the nation’s and world’s leading universities — including in rankings such as U.S. News & World Report — reflects the exceptional quality of our academic programs and the accomplishments of our students, faculty and staff,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, Penn State executive vice president and provost. “Guided by our commitment to academic and research excellence, and student success, we are building on these strengths to further elevate Penn State’s standing among America’s leading universities.””

Penn State rises to No. 22 among public universities in 2027 US News ‘Best Colleges’ | Penn State University

Penn State rose to No. 22 among national public universities and No. 55 overall — increasing four places in both categories — in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges” ranking, released Sept. 22. Penn State also ranks No. 19 among Association of American Universities public institutions...

www.psu.edu

 

[psuro]

Movin' on up!

 

[Catch1lion]

OTOH…

Gotta work on his spelling

 

[LMTLION]

We’re on the rise! Go Neeli!

See the link below. From the article:

”Penn State rose to No. 22 among national public universities and No. 55 overall — increasing four places in both categories — in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges” ranking, released Sept. 22. Penn State also ranks No. 19 among Association of American Universities public institutions and is once again the top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania.

U.S. News defines the category of “National Universities” as schools that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master's and doctoral programs, and that emphasize faculty research. In total, 422 institutions made the list.

“Penn State’s continued recognition among the nation’s and world’s leading universities — including in rankings such as U.S. News & World Report — reflects the exceptional quality of our academic programs and the accomplishments of our students, faculty and staff,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, Penn State executive vice president and provost. “Guided by our commitment to academic and research excellence, and student success, we are building on these strengths to further elevate Penn State’s standing among America’s leading universities.””

Penn State rises to No. 22 among public universities in 2027 US News ‘Best Colleges’ | Penn State University

Penn State rose to No. 22 among national public universities and No. 55 overall — increasing four places in both categories — in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges” ranking, released Sept. 22. Penn State also ranks No. 19 among Association of American Universities public institutions...

www.psu.edu

Wow, that seems to be about the same as our NIL rankings.
In all seriousness, kudos to university leadership for turning things around.

 

[PSUFTG]

Wow, that seems to be about the same as our NIL rankings.
In all seriousness, kudos to university leadership for turning things around.

LOL
Or, if you had any context or knowledge of what you were posting about (check with those "insiders")

For this year's rankings, PSU stopped sending in info from the CWCs. (That is not "confidential" information - but also something PSU would like people "not to know")

That - simply carving out the data that had a drag - is why the (very slight) bump up in the quality rankings. And at least partly responsible for the further plummeting of the Value rankings, which consider the totality of both quality and costs (only one school in the nation - of any type - below PSU).
That is anything but "turning it around" - obviously.


BTW: I won't be posting it here (for obvious reasons) but an incredible story coming out last week's BOT meeting - that is flying completely under the radar. Different story, but in similar vein to this post. I won't post here, for obvious reasons, but I will update on the website and newsletter - so folks can tune in there next week.

 

[leinbacker]

Clearly this is the result of hiring Matt Campbell

 

[BobPSU92]

LOL
Or, if you had any context or knowledge of what you were posting about (check with those "insiders")

For this year's rankings, PSU stopped sending in info from the CWCs. (That is not "confidential" information - but also something PSU would like people "not to know")

That - simply carving out the data that had a drag - is why the (very slight) bump up in the quality rankings. And at least partly responsible for the further plummeting of the Value rankings, which consider the totality of both quality and costs (only one school in the nation - of any type - below PSU).
That is anything but "turning it around" - obviously.


BTW: I won't be posting it here (for obvious reasons) but an incredible story coming out last week's BOT meeting - that is flying completely under the radar. Different story, but in similar vein to this post. I won't post here, for obvious reasons, but I will update on the website and newsletter - so folks can tune in there next week.

U.S. News historically cited Penn State-University Park in its national university ranking. Main Campus, not the entire system. If I remember correctly, Behrend would appear in their regional ranking.

 

[doctornick]

U.S. News historically cited Penn State-University Park in its national university ranking. Main Campus, not the entire system. If I remember correctly, Behrend would appear in their regional ranking.

Yeah, PSU has always been cited for the UP campus specifically as long as I can recall. Pitt does that as well with their different campuses.

I don't really think USN&WR ranking are the end all be all, but they are very commonly cited, so this improvement is a good thing. Looks like we are tied with Purdue for #11 in the Big Ten.

 

[PSUFTG]

U.S. News historically cited Penn State-University Park in its national university ranking. Main Campus, not the entire system. If I remember correctly, Behrend would appear in their regional ranking.

Well, don't take my word for it:

Go to 1:06:15 (just the last minute+ of the video) mark of this Board of Trustees meeting from last week - and hear it straight from the business end of the horse:

Student Success Committee - September 17, 2026 - Penn State Mediaspace

I see that they clipped some from the end of the video (you will see it when you see it - I was there in person for the whole meeting, and so got the whole bit - the methodology change and much. much more), but the topic in question "The Change in Methodology of Information" that PSU submitted is there for all to see/hear.
Disclosed - much to the chagrin of Board leadership - by Trustee Mary Lee Schneider.


There is a much longer relevant history there - dating back to Eric Barron's time. But those who know, know. Those who don't will just keep their heads in the sand and their pom-poms in the air. C'est la vie.

 

[RolexKong]

Conveniently overlooked was the new USNews ranking of "Best Value for In-State Students" where Penn State came in at 106 out of 107 schools listed.

We Are...106!

 

[Nittering Nabob]

Conveniently overlooked was the new USNews ranking of "Best Value for In-State Students" where Penn State came in at 106 out of 107 schools listed.

We Are...106!

Neeli et al don’t want no stinkin in-staters.

 

[JerseyLion]

Conveniently overlooked was the new USNews ranking of "Best Value for In-State Students" where Penn State came in at 106 out of 107 schools listed.

We Are...106!

PSU was in the top 10 for number of applications last year, As long as the applications and the kids keep coming, there isn't much of an incentive to contain tuition.

 

[Big_O]

Still lower than I had hoped. The colleges my older daughter went to are ranked higher than Penn State - UF undergraduate (NucE) at #8 and GA Tech for her NucE doctorate at #6. When she was applying for college Penn State was #16 as was UF. UF was significantly cheaper to attend than Penn State because of the Bright Futures scholarship she got. She had UF at #1 and Penn State at #2 for where she wanted to attend.

My younger daughter graduated from O$U which is still ranked above Penn State. And no, she doesn’t follow O$U football and could care less about the team. She is actually more of a Penn State fan - I trained her well.

When I attended Penn State, O$U was ranked far below PSU. All you had to do was have graduated from an Ohio HS with a GPA of 2.5 or above and you were automatically admitted. Penn State UP was very difficult to get into from out of state with less than 4% admitted from out of state.

 

[BobPSU92]

We still suck.

 

[Wilbury]

LOL
Or, if you had any context or knowledge of what you were posting about (check with those "insiders")

For this year's rankings, PSU stopped sending in info from the CWCs. (That is not "confidential" information - but also something PSU would like people "not to know")

That - simply carving out the data that had a drag - is why the (very slight) bump up in the quality rankings. And at least partly responsible for the further plummeting of the Value rankings, which consider the totality of both quality and costs (only one school in the nation - of any type - below PSU).
That is anything but "turning it around" - obviously.


BTW: I won't be posting it here (for obvious reasons) but an incredible story coming out last week's BOT meeting - that is flying completely under the radar. Different story, but in similar vein to this post. I won't post here, for obvious reasons, but I will update on the website and newsletter - so folks can tune in there next week.

And like clockwork...........

 

[Wilbury]

Conveniently overlooked was the new USNews ranking of "Best Value for In-State Students" where Penn State came in at 106 out of 107 schools listed.

We Are...106!

Has anyone other than Walmart strived to be the best 'value'?

 

[PSUFTG]

And like clockwork...........

Has anyone other than Walmart strived to be the best 'value'?

Seeing as how "value" in this instance is defined as:
Best combination of "High Quality" and "Low Cost" - yes. EVERYONE has strived to "be that".

Duh?

Everyone except for the person(s) with their hands up the Ventriloquist's Dummy's butt.

 

[BobPSU92]

Value doesn’t pay the bills stuff the pockets.

 

[Catch1lion]

I would wager all the schools cook the books on the data they submit. I don't put too much value in these ratings. I do know all the recent PSU grads that I am familiar with are doing quite well.
I totally agree on the cost is crazy. PSU needs to really have strong merit based scholarships.

 

[BobPSU92]

I would wager all the schools cook the books on the data they submit.

It wouldn‘t surprise me. Many state schools show much better GPAs and test scores than they did 10 or 20 years ago. They may be more selective today, but the privates are still a draw for many students, and there are still plenty of dumb sh|ts.

 

[Chumboshifko1]

It wouldn‘t surprise me. Many state schools show much better GPAs and test scores than they did 10 or 20 years ago. They may be more selective today, but the privates are still a draw for many students, and there are still plenty of dumb sh|ts.

There are plenty of dumb sh-its to go around like 69.

 

[JerseyLion]

It wouldn‘t surprise me. Many state schools show much better GPAs and test scores than they did 10 or 20 years ago. They may be more selective today, but the privates are still a draw for many students, and there are still plenty of dumb sh|ts.

Test scores are badly skewed. The kids with bad to borderline test scores won't submit them unless they have to.

 

[Bison13]

Test scores are badly skewed. The kids with bad to borderline test scores won't submit them unless they have to.

True and GPAs are highly skewed as well. Any major test that’s made by one of the county curriculum people here in Maryland, whether it’s Montgomery, Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, etc., are graded on scaled scores.
So if you take a midterm for something like algebra two and you receive 22/25 points, the county score scaling would give that student a 100% and then it just follows down the line. A kid with 20 out of 25 would get a 90 a kid with 17 out of 25 would get an 80 and then even a kid that gets six out of 25 points would get a 59..

 

[doctornick]

I would wager all the schools cook the books on the data they submit. I don't put too much value in these ratings.

All schools do it to some extent but the king is definitely Northeastern. They’ve made manipulating the data to get bigger rankings into a science.

 

[LionJim]

All schools do it to some extent but the king is definitely Northeastern. They’ve made manipulating the data to get bigger rankings into a science.

Huh.

 

[J.E.B]

What’s the scuttlebutt on Neeli’s “State of State” meeting today? Inspired? A lot more to do…

 

[Shepdogg]

Great news, I stopped following when we were dipping.

 

[RolexKong]

PSU was in the top 10 for number of applications last year, As long as the applications and the kids keep coming, there isn't much of an incentive to contain tuition.

Yup, as long as Neeli gets hers.....

 

[RolexKong]

Great news, I stopped following when we were dipping.

Of course. Penn State never had a press release when it was dropping in the rankings.

 

[bdgan]

USC #2
Michigan #3
Illinois #8
Wisconsin #8 (tie)
Ohio State #14
Rutgers #14 (tie)
Maryland #17
Washington #17 (tie)
PSU #22

9th out of 17 private schools in the BiG which doesn't seem great given that we're #1 on in-state tuition.

 

[BobPSU92]

USC #2
Michigan #3
Illinois #8
Wisconsin #8 (tie)
Ohio State #14
Rutgers #14 (tie)
Maryland #17
Washington #17 (tie)
PSU #22

9th out of 17 private schools in the BiG which doesn't seem great given that we're #1 on in-state tuition.

99% of schools would love to be ranked where WE ARE!

Besides, let’s see our ranking when the stadium repo reno is done.

 

[BobPSU92]

More good news:

Penn State ranks in top 5% globally in 2027 THE World University Rankings

“Penn State ranks No. 18 among US public universities, No. 38 among all US institutions, and No. 101 worldwide

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State is ranked No. 18 among U.S. public institutions and No. 38 among all U.S. universities in the 2027 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, released Sept. 29. Overall, the University ranked No. 101 globally, a seven-place rise over last year’s ranking, placing Penn State in the top 5% worldwide among 2,297 ranked universities. Penn State also remains the top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania.

“I am proud of our students, faculty and staff, who continue to make Penn State one of the best institutions in the world," said Jody Pritt, interim vice provost for Penn State Global. "At a time when national and international institutions are competing for excellence, Penn State continues to produce world-class education, research and service.”

Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings are considered one of the three most respected international university ranking systems, along with the QS World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities. For this ranking, THE evaluates research-intensive universities worldwide across four core areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

According to THE, it uses 18 performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons relative to research institutions. The performance indicators are grouped into five pillars: Teaching (the learning environment); Research Environment (volume, income and reputation); Research Quality (citation impact, research strength, research excellence and research influence); International Outlook (staff, students and research); and Industry (income and patents).

Penn State’s scores improved or remained consistent across nearly every measure in the 2027 rankings, with the University’s highest-scoring indicators aligning with its teaching and research missions. Penn State’s overall ranking is buoyed by its $1.44 billion research enterprise, with Research Environment serving as the University’s highest-ranked pillar, placing No. 69 in the world. Penn State also ranked highly in the Teaching pillar, coming in at No. 100 globally.

Times Higher Education places significant weight on an institution’s research community, evaluating its reputation among peers, overall excellence, global influence and industry impacts.”

Penn State ranks in top 5% globally in 2027 THE World University Rankings | Penn State University

Penn State is ranked No. 18 among U.S. public institutions and No. 38 among all U.S. universities in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Overall, the University ranked No. 101 globally, a seven-place rise over last year’s ranking, placing Penn State in the top 5% worldwide...

www.psu.edu

Put that feather in your cap and smoke it.

 

[Bkmtnittany1]

More good news:

Penn State ranks in top 5% globally in 2027 THE World University Rankings

“Penn State ranks No. 18 among US public universities, No. 38 among all US institutions, and No. 101 worldwide

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State is ranked No. 18 among U.S. public institutions and No. 38 among all U.S. universities in the 2027 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, released Sept. 29. Overall, the University ranked No. 101 globally, a seven-place rise over last year’s ranking, placing Penn State in the top 5% worldwide among 2,297 ranked universities. Penn State also remains the top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania.

“I am proud of our students, faculty and staff, who continue to make Penn State one of the best institutions in the world," said Jody Pritt, interim vice provost for Penn State Global. "At a time when national and international institutions are competing for excellence, Penn State continues to produce world-class education, research and service.”

Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings are considered one of the three most respected international university ranking systems, along with the QS World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities. For this ranking, THE evaluates research-intensive universities worldwide across four core areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

According to THE, it uses 18 performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons relative to research institutions. The performance indicators are grouped into five pillars: Teaching (the learning environment); Research Environment (volume, income and reputation); Research Quality (citation impact, research strength, research excellence and research influence); International Outlook (staff, students and research); and Industry (income and patents).

Penn State’s scores improved or remained consistent across nearly every measure in the 2027 rankings, with the University’s highest-scoring indicators aligning with its teaching and research missions. Penn State’s overall ranking is buoyed by its $1.44 billion research enterprise, with Research Environment serving as the University’s highest-ranked pillar, placing No. 69 in the world. Penn State also ranked highly in the Teaching pillar, coming in at No. 100 globally.

Times Higher Education places significant weight on an institution’s research community, evaluating its reputation among peers, overall excellence, global influence and industry impacts.”

Penn State ranks in top 5% globally in 2027 THE World University Rankings | Penn State University

Penn State is ranked No. 18 among U.S. public institutions and No. 38 among all U.S. universities in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Overall, the University ranked No. 101 globally, a seven-place rise over last year’s ranking, placing Penn State in the top 5% worldwide...

www.psu.edu

Put that feather in your cap and smoke it.

If the Skeller didn’t close we would be #1!