Tag: Rankings

Boulder is #1 – Most Highly Educated and Greatest Number of Toilets

horvath

Rankings are fun… Whether it is being recognized as a party school,  highly educated, or fit, Boulder is #1. Recently, Boulder also laid claim to another title. Boulder is #1 for having the greatest number of toilets per capita.number one

To digress briefly…

Some economists and data geeks are obsessed with producing rankings. If you give them a data series, they will open their Excel spreadsheet, plug the data in, and sort it. In no time they will produce a new set of rankings.

Rankings have high entertainment value. They can be used for bragging rights and they can be used for creating taglines to promote a variety of causes, both good and bad. Some Coloradans use the tagline, “Colorado ranks ahead of only Mississippi in funding for education,” to solicit support for the increased funding. The tagline tugs at heartstrings or parents with young children, but it does not clearly represent reality.

Rankings are also useful for creating a feel-good/put-down statement. Consider the bumper sticker that states, “My dog is smarter than your honor student and my cat is smarter than my dog.” My cat is ranked #1, my dog is ranked #2, and your honor student is at the bottom of the pile. I can feel good about my cat and you should feel bad about your honor student. Take that!

Rankings of economic data have value if they are used for comparative or analytical purposes such as showing the strengths or weaknesses of a region as a means of addressing a challenge or opportunity. For example, if Colorado has a high concentration of companies that conduct research in lasers, a discussion about the competencies of these companies can be used to attract and retain photonics, aerospace, and bioscience companies in Colorado.

Back to the issue in the first paragraph…Boulder is #1!

Recently, Redfin.com, a real estate company, produced a report entitled “Tons of Toilets: Which City Sits atop the Throne?” Like many rankings, this one had high entertainment value.

At the top of the list is Boulder with 305,200 toilets or 1.02 toilets per person. Approximately 5.3 million gallons of water are flushed daily.

Second on the list is Washington, D.C. with almost 5.5 million toilets or .98 toilets per person. Approximately 95.6 million gallons of water are flushed daily.

Denver is ranked 6th on the list with almost 2.4 million toilets or .94 toilets per person. About 41.8 million gallons of water are flushed daily.

Shortly after the rankings were released my inbox filled up with e-mails from peers. They were quick to point out the correlation between the rankings of the education levels of these cities to their toilets per capita rankings. Don’t worry, their comments are not appropriate for this document and have been flushed down the toilet.

Like most other rankings, the listing of the race to the top of the throne was used to promote a cause. In this case, the rankings were intended to draw potential customers to the Redfin website – and it worked. I was quickly reminded that I cannot afford to live in Boulder.

This ranking was fun and it was harmless, but it provides a lesson. It is important to be vigilant when reading and using rankings. More often than not, they have limited value unless they are used with other data to make a valid and constructive point.

 

 

Businessweek Rankings – Top Areas of Study for CU Leeds School of Business Near Bottom of Rankings

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Colleges and universities are held accountable for efficiently providing educational services by state agencies and private companies, such as Businessweek and U.S. News and World Report. In late March, Bloomberg Businessweek produced their 2013 ratings for 124 undergraduate business programs (additional information can be found at www.businessweek.com). The table below shows the rankings by academic specialty for Notre Dame, the top ranked school, and the three Colorado undergraduate business programs that were rated.

The profile for each business school included its top study areas. These are listed below along with their ranking by specialty.

Notre Dame Mendoza

  • 2             Accounting
  • NA          Consulting
  • 4             Finance
  • 4             Management of Information Systems
  • 65           Marketing

DU Daniels

  • 22           Accounting
  • 39           Finance
  • NA          Hotel Administration
  • 60           International Business
  • 100         Marketing
  • NA          Ethics, Social Responsibility, General Business

CU Leeds

  • NA          Certificate programs (Real Estate, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability)
  • 119         Accounting
  • 73           Finance
  • NA          Human Resource Management
  • 121         Marketing
  • 114         Operations Management

CSU Business School

  • 97           Accounting
  • 84           Finance
  • 113         Management of Information Systems
  • 86           Marketing
  • 42           Operations Management

As expected, Mendoza’s top areas of study were also highly ranked, signifying that it is an elite school. At the other end of the spectrum, the top areas of study for CU Leeds were ranked in the lower half of all schools, between 73rd and 121st. This is an indication that it is a third or fourth-tier school. DU Daniels and CSU fall somewhere in between.

These rankings show the depth and quality of the elite programs and point out deficiencies of the lower ranked schools. While these rankings point out strengths and weaknesses of American business schools, the ultimate measure is whether it meets the needs of the individual students.

©Copyright 2011 by CBER.

DU is Top Business School, CSU is Best Buy, Leeds School Lags

horvath

On March 20th, Bloomberg Businessweek published the 2013 rankings for 124 undergraduate business programs (www.businessweek.com). Much to the chagrin of alumni and staff at the Dyson, Olin, Wharton, and Carroll schools, the Mendoza School of Business topped the charts for the fourth consecutive year.

Once again the rankings for Colorado universities showed the DU Daniels School is the top ranked school, #68, followed by CSU, which moved up in the ranks to #89. Once again the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business brought up the rear. This past year CU Leeds dropped in the rankings from #92 to #101, out of 124 schools.

On the lighter side, the three Colorado business schools were ranked third (DU), fourth (CSU), and fifth (CU) as he best business schools for ski bunnies. The University of Utah and BYU claimed the top slots.

The table, below, compares a portion of the Businessweek ratings for the Daniels, Leeds, and CSU business schools.  The data covers three basic areas: cost, diversity/SAT scores, and quality/rankings in key areas.

Cost – The cost to attend these schools for four years, assuming an annual increase of 5% each year, is:
• Notre Dame – Mendoza  $241,000.
• University of Denver – Daniels  $223,000
• CU – Leeds (out-of-state) – $209,000
• CU – Leeds (in-state) – $119,000
• CSU – (out of state) – $151,000
• CSU – (in state) – $83,000.
The cost for an out-of-state student to attend CU Leeds is slightly less than Mendoza or Daniels, yet the data suggests the quality of the degree is significantly less.

Diversity/SAT of Students – The Daniels School has a higher percentage of female and international students than its peers. It and Mendoza have a greater mix of minorities.

There is no difference between the CU Leeds and CSU average SAT scores and both are significantly lower than the Daniels and Mendoza schools.  There are bright students at all schools, but the caliber of students at CU Leeds and CSU is lower.

Quality/Rankings in Key Areas – CU Leeds has positioned itself as an expensive program that focuses on serving a large number of students by having large class sizes, i.e. the primary goal is quantity. Of the 124 programs, CU Leeds is the 21st largest. Only 6 of the top 25 schools have more students than CU Leeds; these schools are ranked 9th, 13th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 25th, i.e. quantity is secondary to quality at the top schools. Revenue generation for the University of Colorado is a priority of the Leeds program.

Unfortunately, CU Leeds is ranked 107th in the student survey and 92nd in academic quality. It only received a grade of B in teaching quality. In 2007 a $38 million renovation of Koelbel Hall was completed and the staff was reorganized to better meet the needs of the students. These changes fell short, as yet CU Leeds was only rated B for facilities and services.

A final consideration is the average wages for graduating students. CU Leeds is slightly higher than its Colorado counterparts, but not enough to warrant the extra cost of tuition and the lower quality of education.  Most likely the average wages for DU Daniels students is lower because of the number of students that study in hotel management, an industry with lower wages.

It is possible for students to obtain a quality business degree at any of Colorado’s colleges and universities. Rankings such as those produced by Businessweek are a valuable tool for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of various schools and determining which ones are the best match for each individual’s needs.

@Copyright 2011 by CBER.

2012 Undergraduate Business School Rankings – DU is State’s Top Business School

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Higher education is big business. There are commercial training programs to help students navigate the K-12 system, pass the college entrance exams, and select the right college based on published rankings.

In late March, Bloomberg Businessweek produced the 2012 ratings for 124 undergraduate business programs (additional information can be found at www.businessweek.com). They use nine different measures of student satisfaction, post-graduation outcomes, and academic quality to determine the overall rankings.

The following rankings, from Bloomberg Businessweek, show scores for Notre Dame, the top ranked school, and the three largest Colorado undergraduate programs.The Daniels School is clearly the top ranked undergraduate business school in Colorado, yet it is rated near the bottom of the second quartile of schools. CU and CSU have similar ratings and are on the border of the fourth quartile.

The Leeds School is ranked in the bottom quartile in all of the core subject matters. (The state deserves better from its flagship institution).

CU and DU are in the top quartile for their sustainability and ethics classes respectively. If CU and DU are good enough to be top ranked in specialty programs, why aren’t their core classes stronger?

Of the three schools, CSU is clearly the best buy, in terms of cost and quality.

Over time there is usually minimal variance in the rankings, i.e. schools move up and down within a certain range. When looking at rankings over several years it is important to note that there has been a steady increase in the number of schools ranked.

In 2008 Notre Dame was ranked 3rd of 96 schools. It has obviously improved in the rankings, although it didn’t have far to move. It is now 1st of 124 colleges.

Of the Colorado schools, the Daniels School at the University of Denver has improved the most. It was ranked 67th of 96 (70%) in 2008 and is now 57th of 124 (46%) in 2012.

The business school at Colorado State University has stayed the same. It was ranked 73rd of 96 (76%) in 2008 and is now 94th of 124 (76%). It remains in the bottom quartile of schools for its overall ranking.

And the Leeds School has escaped the bottom quadrant (barely). In 2008 it was ranked 83rd of 96 (86%) and it is now 92nd of 124 (74%).

These rankings are much like the BCS rankings in football. They are meaningful to the schools in the upper echelon and provide prestige and bragging rights. As well, they help the schools attract quality students and donors to the program.

The schools below the elite level have deficiencies, based on the ranking criteria. Many college officials tend to respond by saying, “The rankings don’t really matter” or “They just don’t take into account the challenges we face.” or “The criteria don’t really capture what a great school we are.”

There are many variables for measuring the quality of a business education. Most importantly, students must find a program that meets their individual needs. Then they must demonstrate willingness and motivation to learn. When that happens the rankings are irrelevant.

 

©Copyright 2011 by CBER.