Which Universities Are More Highly Ranked by High School Counselors Than by Colleges Officials?

Do high school counselors and college officials view universities differently? To answer this question, U.S. News is publishing a first-ever analysis of colleges in our National Universities rankings category that shows the academic reputation rankings gap between high school and college officials in our 2013 Best Colleges rankings.

How should these results be interpreted?

If a school is more highly ranked by high school counselors than by college officials for its undergraduate academic reputation, it means that the school's undergraduate reputation among its academic peers is lagging behind the evaluation of the school by high school counselors.

If a school is less highly ranked by high school counselors than by college officials for its undergraduate academic reputation, it means that the school's undergraduate reputation among its academic peers is considerably greater than the view of the school held by high school counselors.

The universities that are more highly ranked by high school counselors are generally either smaller research universities or schools that have heavy concentrations of programs in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM). The universities that are more highly ranked by college officials than by high school counselors are all very large public universities--in some cases the top "flagship" public in their state.

For National Universities, the U.S. News ranking formula gives the high school counselor reputation a weight of 7.5 percent in the rankings, and the academic reputation peer score has a weight of 15 percent in the overall ranking model. Peer assessments are subjective, but they are also important because a diploma from a distinguished college helps graduates get good jobs or gain admission to top-notch graduate programs.

Only schools that were numerically ranked National Universities in the Best Colleges 2013 rankings were included in this analysis.

More highly ranked by high school counselors than by college officials

The table below shows the top schools in the National Universities ranking category where a school's 2013 Best Colleges high school counselor rank was better than the school's academic peer assessment rank by the largest number of ranking places.

Less highly ranked by high school counselors than by college officials

This table shows the top schools in the National Universities ranking category where a school's 2013 Best Colleges high school counselor rank was less than the school's academic peer assessment rank by the largest number of ranking places.