re: 2024 U.S. News College rankings

Some of y’all may not be aware that US News changed their criteria this year. Class size and alumni giving are now given no weight at all. There is more focus on graduation rates, salaries after graduation and student loan debt after graduation.

Also there is a new category…..US News has added a new factor that tracks the graduation rates of first-generation college students at national universities.

In my opinion, demographics are gonna play a big role in the rankings for public universities. States with growing populations (Florida, Texas) will obviously benefit from the greater demand for admission and can be more selective, resulting in higher overall test scores and high school GPA’s. States with decreasing populations (Mississippi) obviously see the opposite as there is less overall demand.

If US News is now giving salaries after graduation significant weight, hopefully they are adjusting for cost of living in different areas, but I’m guessing they are not. Salaries in Mississippi are significantly lower than salaries in California.