UCLA #68?

https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/best-colleges-2025

Bad inputs = bad results

It's where they belong.

San Jose St over Caltech! Um, OK!!!
Cal State Stanislaus over Cornell!
UC Merced over Michigan!

All perfectly plausible!

GT one behind us is wild

By my count, UCLA is behind 8 Cal State schools.

okaydo said:

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UCLA #68?

https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/best-colleges-2025

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It appears that the WSJ staff put up a dart board on the wall with all the colleges named. Gave every one 5 shots of whisky. Blindfolded them. Then turned them loose with their darts.

No other explanation is conceivable

This poll is extremely accurate. Best I've seen so far!

Babson being where it is leads me to believe this is a ranking based on entrepreneurship. But even still the order seems weird.

Top 10 Public Schools
The public schools with the highest overall scores in the WSJ/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking.

1. University of California, Berkeley

2. Georgia Institute of Technology, Main Campus

3. University of California, Davis

4. San Jose State University

5. University of California, Merced

6. Virginia Tech

7. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

8. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

9. California State University, Stanislaus

10. University of Delaware

GoCal80 said:

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Top 10 Public Schools
The public schools with the highest overall scores in the WSJ/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking.

1. University of California, Berkeley

2. Georgia Institute of Technology, Main Campus

3. University of California, Davis

4. San Jose State University

5. University of California, Merced

6. Virginia Tech

7. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

8. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

9. California State University, Stanislaus

10. University of Delaware

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Even as a proud San Jose State alum (Masters Degree), I find this placement totally baffling. I hope San Jose State can capitalize on this unexpected buzz.

socaliganbear said:

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Babson being where it is leads me to believe this is a ranking based on entrepreneurship. But even still the order seems weird.

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It is a ranking based on cost benefit analysis, so it includes social mobility, cost and salary after graduation.

San Jose State takes a lot of people from low income families, has a relatively low cost of attending, and their graduates end up with high Silicon Valley salaries. Have no idea why UCLA is ranked so low.

What's gotten interesting in the last few years is the sheer proliferation of different rankings of higher ed.

I just did a Google search and came up with 9 different American undergraduate-focused ranking sites:

• U.S. News & World Report -- America's Best Colleges
• Wall Street Journal/College Pulse -- Best Colleges in the U.S.
• Forbes -- America's Top Colleges
• Money -- Best Selective Colleges
• Wallethub -- College Ranking: Best Colleges & Universities
• Niche - Best Colleges in America
• College Raptor -- Best Colleges Ranking
• College Consensus -- Best Colleges & Universities
• Washington Monthly -- College Rankings

On top of that, there are the so-called global university rankings (weighted heavily for research / reputation):

• QS World University Rankings 2025: Top Global Universities
• Times Higher Education: World University Rankings
• Times Higher Education: World Reputation Rankings
• U.S. News & World Report -- Global University Rankings
• Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU: Shanghai Rankings)
• Center for World University Rankings (CWRU)

It's a TON of overkill. But one thing's for sure: Despite all the flaws and warts of our beloved University of California, Berkeley, this place has a massive reputation as an academic powerhouse.

Rumor: UC Regents considering a mandate for all Berkeley alums to "donate back" a portion of their salaries to lift UCLA alums above the poverty line.

As long as these sites produce odd rankings like the Wall Street Journal just did, the U.S. News ranking will continue to be the gold standard even though it's shyte.

51?!?

https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/best-colleges-2024

BearBoarBlarney said:

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What's gotten interesting in the last few years is the sheer proliferation of different rankings of higher ed.

I just did a Google search and came up with 9 different American undergraduate-focused ranking sites:

• U.S. News & World Report -- America's Best Colleges
• Wall Street Journal/College Pulse -- Best Colleges in the U.S.
• Forbes -- America's Top Colleges
• Money -- Best Selective Colleges
• Wallethub -- College Ranking: Best Colleges & Universities
• Niche - Best Colleges in America
• College Raptor -- Best Colleges Ranking
• College Consensus -- Best Colleges & Universities
• Washington Monthly -- College Rankings

On top of that, there are the so-called global university rankings (weighted heavily for research / reputation):

• QS World University Rankings 2025: Top Global Universities
• Times Higher Education: World University Rankings
• Times Higher Education: World Reputation Rankings
• U.S. News & World Report -- Global University Rankings
• Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU: Shanghai Rankings)
• Center for World University Rankings (CWRU)

It's a TON of overkill. But one thing's for sure: Despite all the flaws and warts of our beloved University of California, Berkeley, this place has a massive reputation as an academic powerhouse.

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It's still hilarious that Cal is ranked in the top 10 of USNWR's global college rankings but only in the top 20 (or so) of the same company's national college rankings. I mean, I get there are different metrics at play in the two rankings, but that just goes to show the rankings are just so much BS.

Econ141 said:

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Rumor: UC Regents considering a mandate for all Berkeley alums to "donate back" a portion of their salaries to lift UCLA alums above the poverty line.

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Can we donate to the coed of our choice?

okaydo said:

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By my count, UCLA is behind 8 Cal State schools.

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#79...Love it