How many colleges are there, really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 3000+ 4 year colleges.

How many are regionally accredited?

There are roughly 4,000 accredited colleges/universities in the USA.

How many are regionally accredited?

85% are regionally accredited (the preferred standard), and 15% are nationally accredited (usually for profit colleges). Though technically in 2000 the DOE eliminated this distinction. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/plan-for-college/find-your-dream-college/colleges-by-regions-accreditations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 3000+ 4 year colleges.

How many are regionally accredited?

All accreditation is regional. I worked on the re-accreditation of an Ivy. Regional review board. (We passed BTW)

States individually give the authority to grant degrees or start new degree programs. If Princeton wants to start a new degree granting program New Jersey has to say okay go ahead. The Middle States Association doesn’t care, their purview is “is Princeton a fraud or not, is this a legit school”.

The only nationally chartered school I’m aware of is Gallaudet. Diplomas are signed by the President of the United States.

[Anonymous]

USNWR lists about 1850 schools but ranks only 400 national universities and 200 LACs. I wouldn’t send my kid to the bottom half of the ranked schools, so I’d say there are 300 schools that are credible for most UMC families. But, more realistically, most UMC would want a Top 100 university or Top 50 LAC, so maybe 150 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USNWR lists about 1850 schools but ranks only 400 national universities and 200 LACs. I wouldn’t send my kid to the bottom half of the ranked schools, so I’d say there are 300 schools that are credible for most UMC families. But, more realistically, most UMC would want a Top 100 university or Top 50 LAC, so maybe 150 schools.

And most want a top 50 university or Top 25 LAC. So, 75 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USNWR lists about 1850 schools but ranks only 400 national universities and 200 LACs. I wouldn’t send my kid to the bottom half of the ranked schools, so I’d say there are 300 schools that are credible for most UMC families. But, more realistically, most UMC would want a Top 100 university or Top 50 LAC, so maybe 150 schools.

And most want a top 50 university or Top 25 LAC. So, 75 schools.

You can even drop to top 200 (people still talk about VCU, UMBC and other local publics). That still leave 3,800 not worth talking about

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 3000+ 4 year colleges.

Cool. To most parents, that number is meaningless. No parent in this area is considering Philander Smith University for their kid, along with 3,750 of those 4,000

People really tell on themselves when they make comments like this! SO many students in the area attend HBCUs. I think you probably meant to say "no white UMC person living in Bethesda is considering Philander Smith University for their kid," but like...Black people exist. Non-UMC people exist. Maybe not in your little microcosm of "this area", but alas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USNWR lists about 1850 schools but ranks only 400 national universities and 200 LACs. I wouldn’t send my kid to the bottom half of the ranked schools, so I’d say there are 300 schools that are credible for most UMC families. But, more realistically, most UMC would want a Top 100 university or Top 50 LAC, so maybe 150 schools.

And most want a top 50 university or Top 25 LAC. So, 75 schools.

But at least 20 schools move in and out of the 50 range so ranking isn't really useful. FWIW the schools in the 50-100 are excellent, so people "not wanting" them is about ego, not quality education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 3000+ 4 year colleges.

And many are trash and not worth the $$

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USNWR lists about 1850 schools but ranks only 400 national universities and 200 LACs. I wouldn’t send my kid to the bottom half of the ranked schools, so I’d say there are 300 schools that are credible for most UMC families. But, more realistically, most UMC would want a Top 100 university or Top 50 LAC, so maybe 150 schools.

And most want a top 50 university or Top 25 LAC. So, 75 schools.

Yeah, but many of their kids aren't getting in there. UMC or otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USNWR lists about 1850 schools but ranks only 400 national universities and 200 LACs. I wouldn’t send my kid to the bottom half of the ranked schools, so I’d say there are 300 schools that are credible for most UMC families. But, more realistically, most UMC would want a Top 100 university or Top 50 LAC, so maybe 150 schools.

And most want a top 50 university or Top 25 LAC. So, 75 schools.

Most sensible people don't buy that there's a definitive top 50 or 25, even if they accept that there are about 300 that seem like a reasonable option for most UMC families. I know plenty of UMC families who have a so-so academic kid who would thrive better in a small school so they go to a SLAC that would probably rank somewhere along the 50-100 range and offers considerable merit aid which is a bonus. And their kid does great. Or they go to an in-state public school even if it's not top 50 because UMC or not, 80k per year per child is a lot of money. And they are proud of their kid and happy with the outcome. There's only a small subset that really believes in the rankings and is top 50 or bust once their kid is actually involved in the process.

[Anonymous]

I think it's less about rankings and more about the social demographics/capital of the university. Schools like CU Boulder (#105), U of Arizona (#115), Fairfield (#124), University of Denver (#124), U of South Carolina (#124), Chapman (#133), Elon (#133), Miami OH (#133), Quinnipiac (#170), Hobart & William Smith (#70), Sarah Lawrence (#100), etc. are crawling with rich kids...more so than say, Buffalo (#76), New Jersey Institute of Technology (#86), or Rutgers Newark (#86)...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USNWR lists about 1850 schools but ranks only 400 national universities and 200 LACs. I wouldn’t send my kid to the bottom half of the ranked schools, so I’d say there are 300 schools that are credible for most UMC families. But, more realistically, most UMC would want a Top 100 university or Top 50 LAC, so maybe 150 schools.

And most want a top 50 university or Top 25 LAC. So, 75 schools.

Most sensible people don't buy that there's a definitive top 50 or 25, even if they accept that there are about 300 that seem like a reasonable option for most UMC families. I know plenty of UMC families who have a so-so academic kid who would thrive better in a small school so they go to a SLAC that would probably rank somewhere along the 50-100 range and offers considerable merit aid which is a bonus. And their kid does great. Or they go to an in-state public school even if it's not top 50 because UMC or not, 80k per year per child is a lot of money. And they are proud of their kid and happy with the outcome. There's only a small subset that really believes in the rankings and is top 50 or bust once their kid is actually involved in the process.

+1 I'd say generally I'd be open to the top 200 "national universities" and top 100 liberal arts colleges. There are a lot of schools with real strengths in particular areas within those broad buckets. And when you start layering on geographic and size/setting preferences it can narrow things down pretty quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's less about rankings and more about the social demographics/capital of the university. Schools like CU Boulder (#105), U of Arizona (#115), Fairfield (#124), University of Denver (#124), U of South Carolina (#124), Chapman (#133), Elon (#133), Miami OH (#133), Quinnipiac (#170), Hobart & William Smith (#70), Sarah Lawrence (#100), etc. are crawling with rich kids...more so than say, Buffalo (#76), New Jersey Institute of Technology (#86), or Rutgers Newark (#86)...

This is why I think USNWR is dead--they shifted their focus not realizing that rich people want their kids to be friends with mainly other rich people. When they see the schools that rich people chose to attend go down they don't believe them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 3000+ 4 year colleges.

Cool. To most parents, that number is meaningless. No parent in this area is considering Philander Smith University for their kid, along with 3,750 of those 4,000

People really tell on themselves when they make comments like this! SO many students in the area attend HBCUs. I think you probably meant to say "no white UMC person living in Bethesda is considering Philander Smith University for their kid," but like...Black people exist. Non-UMC people exist. Maybe not in your little microcosm of "this area", but alas.

I'd never heard of Philander Smith, but I see USNWR ranks it #55 on their HBCU list, and it's located in Little Rock, and has about 800 students total. (And yes, USNWR listings are highly flawed, but they do give some information. For reference, UDC - which people around here are more likely to be familiar with - is ranked #24.) Unless you have some connection to Arkansas or the school, it's very unlikely that someone would anyone travel from DC to go there. Spelman or Morehouse, sure. But are you or anyone you know really considering a tiny, academically undistinguished school in Arkansas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 3000+ 4 year colleges.

How many are regionally accredited?

There are roughly 4,000 accredited colleges/universities in the USA.

How many are regionally accredited?

4,000.