Clarkson, SLU ranked higher
In the annual horse race of college rankings, both Clarkson University and St. Lawrence University have pulled ahead two spots this year.
U.S. News & World Report included Clarkson, SLU and SUNY Potsdam in "America's Best Colleges 2010."
Clarkson University, Potsdam, inched up a couple of spots this year, coming in at No. 119 in the tier-one list of national universities. Last year, the college was listed at No. 121.
"What people need to keep in mind is that everybody is trying to improve. So it's not a static benchmark. Everything keeps moving up and you have to really work hard to get ahead of the pack," college President Anthony G. Collins said. "We want to be recognized as being a nationally ranked university; after that, we like to point out how we're different."
Clarkson's supply chain management program continues to earn top marks, with its ranking of 14th best in the nation. The college's undergraduate engineering program also was recognized, earning the No. 85 spot. The university also made the "A+ Options for B Students" list once again this year.
Mr. Collins, who has defended the U.S. News rankings in the past against higher-0education critics who say they present an unfair metric, said he continues to look to the college's placement on the lists as another way of measuring how Clarkson is doing.
"The rankings are perceived by a lot of people to be a way of distinguishing universities, and if that's the perception, that's the reality," he said. "We should be measured that way, because there are ways our students will be measured, in terms of benchmarks they may not agree with. That's the world we live in."
St. Lawrence University, Canton, is listed as No. 56 out of 266 schools in the magazine's liberal arts colleges rankings, up from its spot at No. 58 last year.
"We know, from our own research, that St. Lawrence University is one of the best liberal arts institutions in the nation. It is nevertheless gratifying to have independent research that confirms it," university President William L. Fox said in a statement. "We're pleased that the achievements of our students, faculty and staff have been recognized in this way."
SLU also was listed among the colleges with the most students studying abroad and living on campus.
"St. Lawrence has always participated in the U.S. News peer survey. I know there are other colleges who opt not to. We believe students should have as many resources as they possibly can have to make a choice," university spokeswoman Lisa M. Cania said.
High school counselors also ranked the north country's two private colleges on their lists of the best schools to send students to in U.S. News & World Report. Clarkson shared the rank of 169 along with 21 other colleges in the national universities category as ranked by the counselors in the magazine, and SLU shared the rank of 57 with 10 other universities in the liberal arts colleges list.
SUNY Potsdam was listed in the top tier of public and private universities in the north for the 11th consecutive year. That list does not include numbered rankings.
"At SUNY Potsdam we take pride in the recognition of the accomplishments of our graduates. For 200 years this has translated into respect and recognition for the excellence of the programs of the college," President John F. Schwaller said in a statement. "While we are happy to be recognized in U.S. News as one of the nation's best colleges, our students and alumni are constituencies to whom we turn to inform ourselves about how to best fulfill our mission."
SUNY Canton is not ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
ON THE NET
U.S. News & World Report rankings
www.usnews.com/colleges
