15 Most Wired College Campuses
In the late 1960s, a smattering of colleges began to make computers available to students on campus. In the five decades since, computers and computer networks have become the nervous system of nearly every campus nationwide, linking students, professors, and staff in ways likely unimaginable a half a century ago. Flashy computer labs can be found in seemingly every nook of many campuses, and it's common to see more students doing research on the Internet in campus libraries than navigating the vast archives by hand.
[See computer labs at the top 10 most wired campuses.]
While nearly every college student today has their own computer, typically portable, access to computers on campus remains paramount. For students who forgot their paper and need to print it at the last minute or who want to check E-mails between classes and don't have a Blackberry or other smartphone, campus computer labs can be a last-minute lifesaver.
[See the 10 schools with the most on campus housing available to students.]
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,700 undergraduate programs last year, and 1,280 schools reported data on both their total student body (combined graduate and undergraduate population) and the number of computers available to students on campus. Of those schools, the average number of computers per student on campus is .14. That means, on average, there are roughly seven students per computer on college campuses nationwide. However, there are a quite a few schools that far exceed this average, many of which are smaller, liberal arts schools like Hartwick College and Johnson C. Smith University that have roughly one computer per student on campus. Below is a list of the most wired campuses in the country across all school types, ranked in order of computers per student.
School Name | Computers Available to Students | Total Student Body | Computers Per Student | U.S. News Ranking & Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2,500 | 1,318 | 1.90 | Unranked, Arts | |
224 | 199 | 1.13 | Unranked, Regional Colleges (West) | |
5,195 | 4,621 | 1.12 | 16, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
1,646 | 1,466 | 1.12 | Tier 2, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
10,250 | 9,258 | 1.11 | 66, Regional Universities (Midwest) | |
1,875 | 1,742 | 1.08 | 71, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
1,600 | 1,548 | 1.03 | 67, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
1,500 | 1,473 | 1.02 | 174, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
1,050 | 1,041 | 1.01 | 48, Regional Colleges (South) | |
4,500 | 4,552 | 0.99 | 16, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
2,491 | 2,530 | 0.98 | 127, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
10,000 | 11,191 | 0.89 | 41, National Universities | |
6,818 | 7,656 | 0.89 | 41, National Universities | |
800 | 939 | 0.85 | 9, Regional Colleges (North) | |
8,000 | 9,616 | 0.83 | 136, National Universities |
Don't see your school in the top 15? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find computer availability statistics, complete rankings, and much more.
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,700 colleges and universities for our 2010 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data comes from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools.
