IU ranks lowest in Big Ten

At No. 71, IU and Michigan State University tied for the lowest academic ranking in the Big Ten, according to US News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges 2005," where they ranked 248 schools.\n"The news is not as bad as it sounds," said IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis. "And my office is preparing a detailed analysis of the various criteria, with points assigned to each one, and how we fared with the other Big Ten schools in all categories." \nDean of Students Richard McKaig also took an optimistic outlook on the situation. \n"The Big Ten is an excellent conference for academics, so coming in last in the conference isn't all that bad," he said.\nBut, David Zaret, executive associate dean for the College of Arts and Science, said the ranking doesn't mean the administration is satisfied with its standing, either.\n"No one is pleased with IUB's consistently low place in the US News and World Report ranking."\nZaret pointed out that IU may not deserve such a low ranking, as its departments, programs, and schools are ranked among the top 10 or 20 each year.\n"So, there is an odd disconnect between the presence of many very highly ranked programs at Bloomington, and the low overall ranking published in the US News and World Report," he said.\nMcKaig offered a possible explanation for this disparity. He said the survey puts a lot of emphasis on admissions standards and that IU's lower standards mean it ranks lower.\nBut, he said, IU has to balance its mission to accept Indiana students with adequate test scores and high school transcripts with the perceived prestige associated with having selective admissions. \nAccording the US News and World Report Web site, IU is the only university in the Big Ten which is rated as "selective." Each of the other ten universities in the conference, including Michigan State University, are either rated as "more selective" or "most selective."\nStandardized test scores of incoming students, acceptance rates and the percent of students at the top of their high school class determine 15 percent of a college ranking.\nThe survey uses other criteria to rank colleges and universities, including measuring the reputation of the school, assessing the retention rate, looking at faculty and financial resources and at alumni donations.\n"US News and World Report is something easy to quote and easy to look at," McKaig said. "But I don't often see it cited as a reason students came to IU or didn't."\n-- Contact senior writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.