New USNWR rankings are out and OSU dropped about 40 spots this year from 157 to 192.
In FBS terms, 157 put us around LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Kansas State… not beacons of academic prestige but respectable institutions.
192 puts us in the range of Ohio, Louisville, and Kent State… who a friend once referred to as “Kent read, Kent write, Kent State.”
At least we aren’t as bad as Texas Tech (218) or West Virginia (228).
Full FBS academic rankings:
Why the drop?
I think they’re so mad at OU for faking data, that they dropped us 40 spots.
These rankings are so subjective that it’s really hard to tell. Probably a combo of the 74% acceptance rate, lack of alumni donations last year, 21% 4 year matriculation rate…
Hard to know what goes into the rankings, but that’s a disappointing drop. Even though the ranking formula is murky, the rankings are a part of the national reputation of OSU. Hope to see us bump back up next year.
Regardless of ranking, Oklahoma State will continue to be an affordable, attainable and very reputable university for many students in the state and its surroundings. This is a central part of the academic mission of OSU.
This should probably be the place to talk the sport of OSU academics, not the hand injuries thread…
Apparently the rankings matter more when people apply for a job than I first thought.
I forgot all about this thread
I love that we now have @leecothran going off about osus academic rankings (NERD!!!) in two different spots
So here is some food for thought… After the recent graduate gets their first job, stays there 5-10 years, then moves on to a different role. Do they look at their resume still and say gosh, so and so graduated from OSU their academics ranking is horrible. Or do they look at their accomplishments over the past 5-10 years and not stew on the school they went too?
My daughter is attending OSU next year as a freshman so I do have a dog in this fight and curious.
OSU is doing things to move up. The endowment has skyrocketed. We are now R1. Retention is improving. We have individual programs that are very highly ranked and thought of.
But, we will never do some things that it takes to climb to the top the rankings. It’s not our mission. I’ve never been remotely self conscious about my OSU diploma. I know many high achieving folks that got an undergrad degree here. I read the argument in one of the threads about Med school and law school admittance. I personally know of people who went into some of the top schools in either option. If you crush the mcat or the lsat, have good grades and don’t interview like a basement dwelling troglodyte, you can go most anywhere.
All that being said … I’d still like to see us work to improve, but I also understand that we will never be Princeton. Nor should we strive to be.
“lack of alumni donations”…? Why is that important in terms of academic success?
Per student spending and faculty salaries are both part of the USNWR formula.
Yes and that’s part of the deal that skews things. Let’s be honest, $50k goes a hell of a lot father in Stillwater than most places. We could be equivalent in functional income, but still be downgraded.
As a fairly recent oSu grad (Animal Science, then Ruminant Nutrition) my degrees have been held in high esteem. Having an agricultural degree from oSu is thought very highly of. As @TheCraniumMonkey pointed out, oSu has a handful of programs that are held in high esteem nationally, and the remainder of the colleges at oSu have seemingly done a great job of trying to catch those other revered programs. Enrollment is still up, and money being funneled back into these growing programs has increased. I firmly believe oSu will continue to rise in the academic rankings. How high? I am not sure, but my best guess is probably about middle tier, rather than the bottom tier.
Jeez, here I thought you were an old! My bad!
What is “Ruminant Nutrition”? Sounds like “Recombinant Athletics”.
As a fellow Animal Science grad, we definitely have one of the most esteemed programs in the country. It’s also the biggest department on campus.
I realize other than the large research dollars it provides, CASNR in general doesn’t do much to move the needle in the USNWR rankings. It’s just not what those rankings are geared toward. The new Ag Hall will be really nice though and bring in quite a few donations. I’ll be glad to see them get that finished in the next few years.
Well my dad always said I was born 40 so… you aren’t the only one lol.
Ruminant Nutrition is the study of nutrition having to do with four stomached animals… cattle, sheep, goats, etc. I emphasized on Beef Cattle.
Today I learned sheep and goats also have multiple stomachs.
Wish I did. Could eat a lot more.
Here’s that spreadsheet that I mentioned.
I like to use the Forbes ranking because it includes Liberal Arts colleges and factors in cost and value. While I know that OSU isn’t going to compete with, really, any of these schools in the top 100 (Virginia Tech is #108)… it would be nice to see OSU work it’s way at least into the Top 300. Where it is now… I know a lot of things go into these rankings, but it’s kind of embarrassing to see OSU so low, isn’t it?
I’ll never be convinced osu is an inferior degree to the university of Wyoming, Austin College, or cal state chico. Lol