U.S. News releases its appraisals of public and private schools

By WAYNE WASHINGTON
wwashington@thestate.com

Clemson University has climbed several rungs up the ladder of a well-known ranking system, which groups the school among some of the most highly regarded public universities in the country.

Rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report magazine has Clemson rated the 22nd best public university in the country. That’s five spots better than last year and just outside the coveted top-20 goal set by James Barker when he became president of Clemson in 1999.

“What it means to all of us is that Clemson can work together to achieve anything,” Barker said in a statement released by the university. “We set our sights very high, and we are close to making our vision a reality.”

The University of California at Berkeley is ranked No. 1 on the list of public universities. The University of Virginia is No. 2, and the University of California at Los Angeles is No. 3. The University of Georgia is ranked No. 20.

The magazine did not rank public universities beyond a top 50. In a ranking that combined 262 public and private schools, Clemson was tied for No. 61, and USC was tied for No. 108.

USC President Harris Pastides, emphasizing he did not want to begrudge Clemson’s high ranking, said the magazine’s system “is not the kind of significant endorsement for us to change how we plan.”

“They don’t drive what we do,” he said.

The magazine ranked “up and coming” universities, and Clemson came in at No. 2, one spot below George Mason University in Virginia.

Clemson earned praise from the magazine as “a college that has recently made striking improvements or innovations, a school everyone should be watching.”

USC ranked No. 9 on the up and coming list, a nod Pastides said he was pleased for the university to receive, despite uncertainty about what goes into such a ranking.

Clemson’s graduation rate has improved, as has its freshman retention rate. The school has more classes with 20 or fewer students, and a higher percentage of incoming freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes.

Those are among the measuring sticks the magazine uses to rank colleges and universities.

Those rankings either greatly please or annoy university officials, sometimes on the basis of where their schools are listed.

To the chagrin of those who don’t like the idea of ranking universities, students and parents do pay attention to the magazine’s rankings.

“By providing timely, relevant and useful information about the college selection process, the U.S. News Best Colleges package serves as a fundamental resource for those families facing one of the most challenging financial decisions,” a magazine news release claimed.

Reach senior writer Wayne Washington at (803) 771-8385.

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