Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking puts TU near the top of USM universities

By Towson University on September 26, 2017

In its annual ranking of more than 1,054 U.S. colleges and universities nationwide, the just-released 2018 Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking puts Towson University third among all University System of Maryland (USM) institutions.

In the USM, only the University of Maryland, College Park (No. 96) and UMBC (No. 383) placed ahead of TU. 

In addition, TU is ranked 122nd among 326 ranked institutions in the South region.

Towson University scored especially well on student engagement, student recommendation, and student interaction. Student recommendation is based on the following survey question: “If a friend or family member were considering going to a university, based on your experience, how likely or unlikely are you to recommend your college or university to them?”

TU’s student recommendation score of 82.9 (out of a possible 100 points) is its highest of all 15 performance metrics. The university also was rated highly for student diversity (71.6) and faculty diversity (65.2).

“ One clear sign of TU’s inflection point is the repeated national recognition the university has received in recent weeks for our outstanding academic quality, student success, diversity, and commitment to excellence. ”

TU appears without a specific numerical ranking in the 501-600 category, but with a composite score that put it ahead of all remaining USM universities.

The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (THE) College Ranking is a ranking of universities and colleges designed to put graduate success and student learning at its heart.

Developed in partnership with U.S. experts and universities, the ranking adopts a balanced scorecard approach. It uses 15 individual performance metrics, grouped into four pillars representing Resources (30 percent), Engagement (20 percent), Outcomes (40 percent) and Environment (10 percent).

The 15 performance indicators have been selected in order to answer the questions that matter the most when choosing a university.

TU’s strongest performance this year was in the Outcomes category, where it ranked in the third decile (316th). Outcomes include graduation rates (76.8 of 100 possible points) and graduate salaries (54.6).

Almost 20 percent of the WSJ/THE College Ranking relies on a powerful student dataset—the first THE U.S. Student Survey, which captures the voices of 100,000 current U.S. students across all ranked colleges.

“We are gratified that Towson University was positively recognized for our student and faculty diversity and our graduation rates, as well as our student engagement, interaction and recommendation,” said TU president Kim Schatzel.

“In my fall address earlier this month,” Schatzel continued, “I observed that we as a university are at an inflection point—a decisive moment in our history that marks we are on the cusp of an era of very significant and very positive change. One clear sign of TU’s inflection point is the repeated national recognition the university has received in recent weeks for our outstanding academic quality, student success, diversity, and commitment to excellence.

“There truly is much to be proud of at Towson University,” she added.

In addition to the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College rankings released Tuesday night, TU has also received the following accolades from these highly respected national publications:

• U.S. News & World Report: Towson University jumped four spots to 10th in the 2018 America’s Best Colleges. TU also performs well in U.S. News ‘Best Colleges for Veterans’ and ‘Best Value Schools’ newly released rankings.
• Money magazine: ranked Towson University among the nation’s Best Colleges, joining Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland, College Park, as the highest-ranked institutions in Maryland;
• Forbes: once again named Towson University in its 2017 Best Colleges rankings;
• Washington Monthly: ranked Towson University 64th — up 20 spots from 84th one year ago — among the 632 colleges and universities surveyed for its National Universities-Master’s category. TU also ranked 56th out of 363 U.S. public and private universities on the magazine’s 2017 ‘Best Bang for the Buck –Northeast’ list.
• Diverse Issues in Higher Education: TU holds the No. 43 position in the magazine’s annual Top 100 list of U.S. colleges and universities that have conferred the most bachelor’s degrees on African-Americans. The ranking includes bachelor’s degrees across all disciplines.