re: Most Academically Improved SEC Schools

The other thing is private schools have gotten better and better at gaming the system for a better US News rating because for them it actually matters. They pay incoming Freshman at Baylor to re-take their SAT's to improve their scores after they have already enrolled for instance. They also aren't nearly as accountable as public schools as to the accuracy of their data and US News has to rely on self reporting.

I just laugh when I see how A&M has dropped the last couple of years. Our endowment has exploded and now surpassed Michigan as the #2 among all Public Universities. We have the largest research spend of any University for over 1000 miles in every direction. We consistently rank at the top for starting salaries and recruiting lists. Our profile is bigger than ever. Yet we are dropping?

To show you how ridiculous the private school bend is for US News now the highest rated Public school has dropped to #20 for Cal Berkeley. They have now put SMU at #60 ahead of A&M which is beyond laughable. They put more and more Non AAU private schools at higher rankings which is just a joke.