UIndy ranks in top 25 percent
Poll places UIndy among nation’s best universities.
By Haley Vannarsdall
Staff Writer
U.S. News & World Report recently named the University of Indianapolis in the top 25 percent of America’s best colleges in the Midwest. The university is ranked No. 33 in the nation based on peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving and graduation rate performance.
Mark Weigand, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said the ranking helps prospective students and parents with college choices.
“It’s positive for us to be in the top tier because families struggle with rating colleges,” Weigand said.
U.S. News’s rankings provide opportunities for perspective students to compare rankings of other schools according to certain criteria. The ranking does not, however, show the full perspective of colleges nor do they rate the overall experience.
Provost Deborah Balogh stressed the importance of atmosphere and compatibility when choosing a university to attend.
“Students who come to UIndy choose us because they are looking for personal attention from high quality faculty who engage them inside and outside of the classroom,” Balogh said. “They are looking for an environment in which they can explore a variety of activities, have the opportunity to get involved in service, and have real-world experience in their major area of study.”
Balogh also said the ranking is not the most important facet in choosing a univeristy.
“When there is a good match between what the student is looking for and what the university has to offer, a tipping point can be the fact that the institution is in the top tier,” Balogh said. “But being ranked highly means very little if a prospective student has an unpleasant experience during a campus visit or if the student doesn’t find a major they are looking for.”
Weigand sees the top tier percentage as an asset to the university but not as an overall determining characteristic.
“The rankings only give us a limited look, there are many other things that are a better measure that we do not want to neglect,” Weigand said. “U.S. News only tells part of the story.”
The university’s past rankings have stayed fairly consistent. The scores help academic officials compare how they stand now from past years.
“Areas that rankings are based on and have gradually improved are: selectivity, freshmen retention and graduation rate,” Weigand said. “Peer assessment is becoming increasingly more well known, it’s what other colleges think of ours. Alumni giving, faculty compensation, financial resources are areas we are continually trying to improve.”
Being ranked in the top tier of colleges is recognizes positive aspects of UIndy, but areas such as diversity are still not ranked.
“As I mentioned, the rankings have been fairly stable over the past few years, and I am pleased that we are in the top tier, but the UIndy story is much richer and more complex than what a ranking tells us,” Balogh said. “When students graduate they tell us about how well prepared they are to enter the job market. I cannot recall a single student in my 30-plus years in higher education who mentioned the rankings when asked what they liked or didn’t like about the school they attended.”
