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[quote=Anonymous]I don't see how having Penn State on this list discredits it.  Penn State is an internationally regarded research university.  Not only does the Times World University Rankings put it at number 75 in its worldwide survey, but ranks it in the top 20% in teaching, top 10% in research and top 20% in faculty citations.

You can read about the Times methodology here:  https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ranking-methodology-2016

Other international indices that rank universities also rank Penn State highly.  The Academic Ranking of World Universities puts Penn State at 60.  The Center for World University Rankings puts Penn State at number 47.

Rankings systems are, by and large, very subjective.  the USNWR rankings list barely tells you anything about the academic quality of the school.  Malcolm Gladwell pointed this out in his critique of the USNWR rankings in 2011 in the New Yorker.  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/14/the-order-of-things

The USNWR rankings are geared heavily towards measures of wealth, and not how well the universities do at carrying out their intended educational mission. If he mission of the univesity it taking a broad range of students and providing them with a good education, then Penn State does this well.

PP, you present no arguement as to whether or not Penn State is a good school other than you subjective opinion.  You can counter argue with with an arguments or facts.

However, as Penn State's President says in Gladwell's article, “If you look at the top twenty schools every year, forever, they are all wealthy private universities.   Do you mean that even the most prestigious public universities in the United States, and you can take your pick of what you think they are—Berkeley, U.C.L.A., University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, U.N.C.—do you mean to say that not one of those is in the top tier of institutions? It doesn’t really make sense, until you drill down into the rankings, and what do you find? What I find more than anything else is a measure of wealth: institutional wealth, how big is your endowment, what percentage of alumni are donating each year, what are your faculty salaries, how much are you spending per student.

The problem for those who take issue with critiques of the USNWR is that indicators that downplay wealth, would alter the list.  Isn't that a shame.  [/quote]

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