SIUE fares only so-so in national survey of universities

By Brian Wallheimer
News Reporter

SIUE has placed in the lower half of 124 Midwestern universities in a survey by U.S. News and World Report.

U.S. News ranks schools according to seven different criteria: academic reputation, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate and alumni support.

The survey lists the top colleges in the nation as well as by region.

SIUE was too small to be ranked nationally. It placed in the survey's Midwestern third tier, meaning there were 63 higher-ranked universities and at least 27 lower ranked. Tier 3 has 34 universities.

David Sill, provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs, said the reason SIUE did not rank higher is that SIUE is a commuter campus.

Sill said the survey was not set up for commuter schools.

"SIUE is here to meet the needs of local people, and we receive a wide variety of students," Sill said. He added that a majority of students live off campus and have other factors in their lives besides school.

For example, the survey considers schools' graduation rates.

The graduation rate of students with more than six years at SIUE is 32 percent. That is considerably lower than most colleges in the Midwest.

Sill said the graduation rate of students living on campus is much higher than that of students living off campus. He also added that many students living off campus sometimes take a longer than six years to graduate.

Sill noted that SIUE students leave with a good education and are prepared to enter the job market.

Sill said that if he were to rank the university, he would rank it in two ways. As U.S. News ranked SIUE, he would place it near the middle for the region. But if he were to rank it among other commuter colleges' graduates, SIUE would be near the top.

At 79 percent, SIUE has one of the highest percentages of graduates finding jobs within their major field within two years of graduation.

Sill credited this to the work of the Career Development Center, which helps students prepare for interviews and find jobs after graduation.

SIUE ranked high in freshman retention rate, coming in at 69 percent, the same as the retention rate of one of the Midwest's top 25 schools.

SIUE also has smaller class sizes compared to many colleges in the survey, with an average of one faculty member for every 15 students. Other schools in the survey ranged from 10 to 30 students per faculty member.

The U.S. News rankings are only a guide to colleges as stated on its web site at http://www.usnews.com.