Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 16:34     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:Alabama and Ole Miss should be up there along with Tennessee

MMSU mom showed up.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 16:32     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
No UMD? Why?
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 16:22     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:Alabama and Ole Miss should be up there along with Tennessee

lol
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 16:06     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Alabama and Ole Miss should be up there along with Tennessee
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 15:52     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
All the UCs are grossly overvalued by US News with their algorithm. According to US News, even UC Merced is in the top 60. That's basically like putting your community college in the top 1 percent of all universities in the country.

But since I like lists, I think in general best public schools would be:

Berkeley
Michigan
Georgia Tech
Texas
UCLA
UVA
Washington
UNC
Florida
UIUC
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 15:51     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Ole Miss has one of the top English departments.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 15:48     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UC Merced is considered a top 20 public school by US News.



and yet we all know that it isn't


It’s 25 due to USNWR reliance on social mobility as a factor. 86-87% of Merced’s students are racial or ethnic minorities


The UC System as a whole has much higher percentages of Pell Recipients than many other systems. It is a factor of state demographics. This has resulted in a huge boost to the UCs in the USNWR rankings.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 15:44     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UC Merced is considered a top 20 public school by US News.



and yet we all know that it isn't


It’s 25 due to USNWR reliance on social mobility as a factor. 86-87% of Merced’s students are racial or ethnic minorities
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 15:35     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Forbes has a top 10 based on where they see the most positive employer inputs. In alphabetical order:

University of Florida (Florida)
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia)
Purdue University (Indiana)
United States Air Force Academy (Colorado)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Michigan)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (North Carolina)
University of Virginia (Virginia)
University of Texas at Austin (Texas)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (Wisconsin)
William & Mary (Virginia)

They exclude the UCs because they are test blind.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 15:30     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UCB, UMICH, UVA, UNC, UT, UF, UCLA, W&M, UIUC, GT


W&M? Not per USNWR 2026


This is a good list. Though if you include Florida should probably also include Georgia.

USNWR has a particular methodology that works against W&M (like no longer valuing small class size). W&M definitely belongs.


USNWR doesn't factor the areas where W&M is at or near the top among public universities (teaching quality, student faculty ratio, class size, alumni giving rank) and increased the weighting of areas where W&M is not as strong as many larger publics (research output, # of Pell Grant students). You should probably do your own assessment on what matters to you.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 12:46     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This thread is enlightening because it is such a stark reminder of how incapable people here are of evaluating universities. OP asks a rather strange question but then the discussion immediately descends into whether standardized tests are required and ED practices. Nothing on professor or department quality, unique programming, career and grad school outcomes, or the like. Nope. Entirely focused on admissions practices.

Because student quality matters the most. A Nobel laureate cannot teach a lottery student who needs remedial math.

Then change the entire k-12 system. It’s absurd to gape on student quality when k-12 has no standardization.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 12:24     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:UC Merced is considered a top 20 public school by US News.



and yet we all know that it isn't
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 12:23     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:UC Merced is considered a top 20 public school by US News.



Where?
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 11:39     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
UC Merced is considered a top 20 public school by US News.

Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 11:36     Subject: Top 10 public "ranking"?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is there really a rank? Aren't they all flagships which exist to educate predominantly the students of that state? When someone refers to a T10 public "ranking", is it for grad programs or for undergrad?


There are rankings. Five are in CA ….UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD and UCI. Are in the 1-9 spots.


Give me a huge break. UC schools are a total mess right now for undergraduate education. You can thank the Board of Regents for that. No school that is 100% test blind should be top anything. I know you are referring to the USNWR rankings, but do you realize they rely heavily on the social mobility score? This is why the UCs are in the top 10. They have more poor people and FGLI (Pell grant recipients) than most schools. Is that commendable? Yes, but it doesn’t make it a top public university. I say this as a proud graduate of the UC system. No way UCD or UCI belong in the top 10. Maybe UCSD?


I agree…I am in CA and I see some of these kids going to the UCs and I promise they are not Top 10 school material….


UC schools are a completely different animal with the test blind nonsense going on there.