U.S. News & World Report best colleges: See how Long Island colleges ranked
College rankings used to be predictable. Not anymore.
One of the biggest names in Best College lists, U.S. News & World Report, released new rankings Tuesday that showed Rockville Centre's Molloy University leaping up 27 places to be named among the top 40 regional universities in the North, while the tiny, naval engineering-focused Webb Institute in Glen Cove made its debut at No. 3 among Northern regional colleges.
The shake-up comes as U.S. News has revamped its rankings to focus on how well schools prepare a wide range of students to thrive in their careers and financial lives after graduation, including students with the greatest financial needs, according to the publication.
"We made these changes to better reflect career outcomes, which is so important to students who are making this investment," said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News. "Ultimately, that's what matters the most."
Adelphi University in Garden City and Hofstra University in Hempstead are now tied with nine other schools at No. 191 among national universities, after Adelphi moved up seven spots and Hofstra fell eight places.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ended Princeton University’s 15-year run in the No. 1 spot, according to U.S. News. Massachusetts schools also took the top two spots among national liberal arts colleges, with Williams College at No. 1 and Amherst College at No. 2.
Not everything has changed on the lists.
Stony Brook University’s place among national universities held steady from last year at No. 59. The State University of New York school is in a 10-way tie with private Tulane and Brandeis universities and public Texas A&M University, among other schools. Stony Brook also ranked No. 11 among national universities for its graduation rate for low-income students who receive Pell Grants, Jones said.
'Earnings by major' added
In one of its biggest methodology changes this year, U.S. News introduced a new "earnings by major" metric that compares the earnings of graduates who majored in subjects such as nursing, education and business with those who majored in the same subjects at other schools. For that metric, U.S. News analyzed data on those who received federal financial aid.
In recent years, U.S. News has dropped measures such as alumni giving, class size and the high school standing of entering students. It continues to track retention and graduation rates as well as measures of schools’ financial resources and faculty quality, among other data.
On the new list, Molloy now ranks No. 39 among Northern regional universities, a category that includes schools from Maine through Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., that primarily offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Last year, it ranked 66th. Gains in Molloy’s earnings by major and its retention and graduation rates contributed to its jump in the rankings, Jones said.
"Those are all metrics where the school actually improved," he said. "It's not that the methodology caused them to move up."
On the same list, St. Joseph’s University, which has a campus in Patchogue, ranked No. 56 among regional universities, down from 50 last year.
The tuition-free, four-year Webb Institute, which has about 100 students studying naval architecture and marine engineering, tied with Manhattan’s renowned Cooper Union at No. 3 among regional colleges offering mainly professional programs. Previously, U.S. News ranked Webb No. 82 among engineering programs, but the publication did not compare it with other nonengineering programs in the past.
The United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point came in at No. 5 on the Northern regional colleges list. Farmingdale State College ranked 13th among regional colleges, down from 7th last year. On this year’s list, Farmingdale took third place for undergraduate teaching, Jones said.
This year, U.S. News also moved about one-fifth of ranked schools into new categories, based on changes in a framework called the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, which U.S. News uses in its data gathering.
Among the schools placed in new categories was New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, now ranked No. 219 among national universities. Last year, it came in fourth among Northern regional universities.
SUNY Old Westbury ranked 154th among national liberal arts colleges. Among public schools on that list, Old Westbury was in 18th place nationwide, Jones said. The school was 98th among Northern regional universities last year.
Long Island University, which has a campus in Brookville, placed 89th among regional universities this year. Last year, it ranked 373rd among national universities.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.
