TCU ranked in second tier of America’s Best Colleges
TCU is listed as one of the top universities in the nation according to the U.S. News & World Report.
By Antoinette Vega
Staff Reporter

For the sixth consecutive year, TCU is ranked in the second tier of national doctoral universities, according to results in U.S. News and World Report of America’s Best Colleges 2003 released online Friday.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said the ranking was in line with his estimates for the university.

“We aspire, at TCU, to remain firmly near the top of tier two and that’s where we are right now,” he said.

He said academic reputation is the most important factor of these ratings and TCU will continue to emphasize this point.

Among the 78 schools in the second tier, TCU is ranked third highest in alumni giving rate, 20th in the percentage of classes with 50 or more students and 33rd place in 2001 graduation rates. TCU received a peer assessment score of 2.7 out of 5.0 evaluated by presidents, provosts and deans of admission at peer institutions.

TCU is listed among the top 129 doctoral universities in the country ranked in categories of alumni giving, academic reputation, freshman retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and
graduation rates.

TCU is also ranked 55th out of the 82 schools recognized with the best undergraduate engineering programs.

The university is strong and always pushing for improvement and deserves to be ranked highly, said D.A. Obahor, a junior business major.

“This school is a great vehicle for students to learn and should be ranked closer to the top,” he said.

Schools in the first tier, or top 50 schools, include the California Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Harvard University.

Fifty-five schools, including Texas Tech University and Arizona State, placed in the third tier and the University of North Texas and Louisiana Tech are among the 75 schools placed in the fourth tier.

The universities in tier one are classified as major research universities and use SAT scores to be more selective in admission, Ferrari said.

“At TCU, motivation, leadership potential and academic success are valued more than SAT scores,” he said.

He said considering TCU’s mission and the ranking requirements, it is unlikely that TCU will move to tier one in the near future.

To determine ranking, according to U.S News and World Report, schools are first categorized by their mission and data is gathered from each college on up to 16 indicators of academic excellence. The colleges in each category are ranked against their peers, based on their composite weighted score.