Westmont Moves Up in Forbes’ List of America’s Top Colleges
Once again, Forbes has recognized Westmont in their 2012 America’s Top Colleges list, which includes 650 institutions. Westmont ranks 76th, up from 81st last year. Nine other California colleges and universities appear in the top 100: Stanford (5th), Claremont McKenna College (12th), California Institute of Technology (13th), Pomona College (23rd), Scripps (41st), Harvey Mudd College (44th), UCLA (55th), Santa Clara University (57th) and UC Berkeley (70th).
In a story on their website, Forbes explains their approach, which focuses on “the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt.” They ignore “ephemeral measures such as school ‘reputation’ and ill-conceived metrics that reward wasteful spending.” They approach the task like a consumer and ask if it’s worth spending money for a particular degree. The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington, D.C., think tank, prepared the survey for Forbes.
Forbes identifies five categories used to determine the rankings: post-graduate success (30 percent), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence; student satisfaction (27.5 percent), which includes professor evaluations and freshman-to-sophomore-year retention rates; debt (17.5 percent), which penalizes schools for high student debt loads and default rates; four-year graduation rate (17.5 percent) and competitive awards (7.5 percent), which rewards schools whose students win prestigious scholarships and fellowships like the Rhodes, the Marshall and the Fulbright.
In January 2011, Forbes selected Westmont as the second-best college for minorities to earn a degree in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (known colloquially as STEM). For more information, go to http://blogs.westmont.edu/2011/01/21/forbes-lauds-westmonts-diversity-science/
For more information about the Forbes 2012 America’s Top Colleges rankings, visit their website.