US News 2012 rankings

[Ghost]

How much better of an education can you get at say the #100 school over the #181 school?

While the reality is not much (outside of selective programs), the perception is worth the pursuit to climb the list.  Judy says the goal is to get in the AAU.  We're going to need to significantly improve.

x1000000000000000000000000

It's all perception. Unfortunately, this is what many parents look at when looking for schools for their kids, among other rankings. We need to jump into that top 100 soon. Obviously that's a huuuuuuuuuuuuge leap and requires more than the resources we have, but as long as we keep accepting students who are worth a crap and not just admitting to get tuition from kids, then we will be in good shape. This years freshman class was USF's best ever. This needs to happen every year for the next four or five until we are at that 4.1-4.2 GPA range and 1270+ SAT

[Gismo]

Trade UCF's perceived Disney World theme park atmosphere with USF's perceived Suitcase City atmosphere and USF would leapfrog way ahead of UCF in rankings.

Their undergraduate experience is slightly better than ours, but our graduate programs are, for the most part, better than theirs. It's more than just the Disney World vs. Suitcase City perception.

I really think the undergrad experience is what you make it though I have a friend who transferred from UCF to USF and hated UCF and totally loved USF. From talks with friends from high school who went there I wouldn't say it was any better. I grew up in the Orlando area and I had no desire to attend UCF and didn't even apply there. Anyway, I just hate UCF and really don't have a good reason.

In terms of the quality of in class education an undergraduate student receives, I think it's about the same everywhere as long as the university is accredited. I think the differences are outside of the class room like with career placement, student resources, business relationships, etc.

Now I'm in graduate school at Texas A&M and the 2020 vision here is to be a top 10 public institution; we just made it into the top 20 this year. I know Texas A&M has set aside a lot of funds to really hire more professors and try and pull professors from other universities. So hiring more professors seems to be one of their main strategies and is something USF really needs to do, but I don't think USF has enough funds for a hiring spree. Also, one of the TAMU's goals  is to have 25% graduate student enrollment (currently about 20%) but I recall reading somewhere recently that USF had 25% graduate enrollment so I would say USF is doing well in that area. These are just my observations now that I have something to compare USF to.

One area I think USF really needs to improve is the 4 and 6 year graduation rate. It was my experience the mechanical engineering department you can just drop classes half way  through the semester and you can fail a class twice without anyone to stop you or any penalty (except to your transcript). I know at some universities that stuff doesn't fly and you have to see an adviser before dropping a class. It's just stuff like this that can make a difference for the undergraduates and lack of good advising leads to delayed graduation. I like USF's campaign to get students to take 15 credit hours. I felt in the minority at USF taking 15 hours each semester because most other people I knew were only taking 12.

[Mama_Bull]

"Also, one of the TAMU's goals  is to have 25% graduate student enrollment (currently about 20%) but I recall reading somewhere recently that USF had 25% graduate enrollment so I would say USF is doing well in that area."

I'm pretty sure you are misinformed about that. I believe USF graduate enrollment is over 15% but is striving for 20%. I believe 20% is an AAU benchmark we still haven't reached. I don't feel like checking, but that is my understanding. I could be wrong.

[Oldsmobull]

USF's graduate enrollment is now about 25%.  One thing AAU looks for is minumum of 25% of students living on campus or in university affiliated private housing near campus.  Too I think the 6 year graduation rate stat is only for the students who began at USF as new freshmen and graduating from USF.  The graduation stats get twisted around when you throw in transfers and doesn't include USF freshmen who do end up graduating from other colleges.

Things change and  it is noble seeking AAU membership, but even following a guide map seeking AAU membership and completing a checklist of target goals won't guarantee ever getting in AAU.

[Mama_Bull]

USF's graduate enrollment is now about 25%.  One thing AAU looks for is minumum of 25% of students living on campus or in university affiliated private housing near campus.  Too I think the 6 year graduation rate stat is only for the students who began at USF as new freshmen and graduating from USF.  The graduation stats get twisted around when you throw in transfers and doesn't include USF freshmen who do end up graduating from other colleges.

Things change and  it is noble seeking AAU membership, but even following a guide map seeking AAU membership and completing a checklist of target goals won't guarantee ever getting in AAU.

Yep, membership is by invitation only. They can go decades without adding anybody. It's pretty much an old boy's club at this point. Aside from meeting and even exceeding the requirements, it still comes down to your relationships with other schools, in order to to get the required number of votes.

[USF_Grouper]

Last year, USF was #183 and #T16 Up- and-Coming, so there has been an improvement. Still, the very bad student to faculty ratio is probably the main reason why we aren't moving up as fast as we would like.

It's the 3-400 person introduction classes that kill it. Most of my classes after "Intro to _____" had 20-25 people in them, which was a perfect size.

The great irony is I find those 300+ classes to be almost essential part of the university experience.  I often find students that either went to a 2 year CC or a small private school and missed those classes struggle to teach themselves concepts.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should be taken an advanced course in your chosen field that way.  However, teaching Biology or Chemistry w/ a professor who barely has time to grade all the tests much less assign homework, doesn't care one way or the other if you show up, and bases your grade entirely on a final and mid-term gets a bad rap.  It is an essential part of learning.

[USF_Grouper]

USNWR rankings have always been suspect for several reasons, most notably the weight given to endowment and the relative lack of weight given to research dollars.  For example, does anyone really think the academic rigor and research quality at USF is significantly lower than schools like Univ. of Arkansas (#132) or Miss. State (#157)?

Rankings should really be thought of as very general tiers and not specific numbers:

1-Top tier private universities (most ivy league schools + Stanford and maybe duke)

2-Really good private universities plus top tier flagship publics (Vandy, ND, a couple UC schools, UVA, Michigan)

3- The rest of the public schools with good academics and a large research profile + decent private universities (UF, Ohio State, Baylor, etc.)

4-Average public schools + some average private schools.

5-Universities with only a local or regional focus (directional state schools in small states, small private colleges)

I think the size of USF and specifically the amount of research we do puts us solidly in #4 (I think we have grown from 5 to 4 in the last 10-20 years) and I really think the only thing holding us back from being considered in #3 is academics which are steadily improving. 

Just to highlight your point....  I got a BS from USF.  I got an MS and am currently a PhD student at Florida Institute of Technology.  Florida Tech education is what you make it, I could easily get through my program with probably less effort than obtaining my BS from USF.  Many of FIT's graduate courses are taught in tandem w/ undergrad courses (maybe an extra question or two on the test).  If I were to weigh the two comparatively I'd say USF is much more academically rigorous than FIT.  FIT is #164.

[gomiami1972]

#181 is just not acceptable.

[Gismo]

#181 is just not acceptable.

The rankings really blow imo.

I honestly don't think the education I got at USF was any worse than I would have gotten at UF or any other school in the state.

With accreditation boards, such as ABET for engineering, all of the curriculum is pretty much the same anywhere if they have the same accreditation. It ensures a certain standard is met everywhere.