Rankings scoreboard: How Princeton fared

Published in the Oct. 5, 2011, Issue

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: TIED FOR NO. 1 with Harvard, with top marks for academic value, the quality of undergraduate teaching, and low student debt for graduates.

FORBES: NO. 2 OVERALL, behind Williams College; factors include student satisfaction, postgraduate success, student debt, and four-year graduation rates.

WASHINGTON MONTHLY: NO. 31 among national universities, based on service, research, and social mobility.

CAMPUSPRIDE.ORG: ONE OF 33 schools to earn the highest rating in a list of gay-friendly colleges.

SMARTMONEY: NO. 19 on the “payback scorecard,” and FIRST AMONG IVIES. Sticker-price tuition and fees are compared to the median pay of alumni two years after graduation ($58,900) and 15 years later ($123,000).

PRINCETON REVIEW: TOP 10 for financial aid, “students study the most,” most beautiful campus, library, and best classroom experience.

THE BEST COLLEGES: NO. 1 in the first year of this top-50 list; factors include economic value and quality of life as well as academic quality and student satisfaction.

NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEAST: NO. 1 in return on investment; TOP 10 in “brainiacs,” healthiest, computer geeks, best for foreign students, activists, accessible professors, and future CEOs.

EDUCATION SECTOR: Among 33 top research universities, the LOWEST RATIO OF DEBT ($2,385 in student and parent borrowing) compared to the number of undergraduate degrees issued.

QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS: NO. 13 in the world and NINTH among U.S. universities; rankings based on reputation, citations per faculty, and faculty/student ratio.

SHANGHAI JIAO TONG WORLD RANKINGS: NO. 7, and SIXTH among U.S. universities; factors include number of Nobel/Fields Medal winners and published and cited research.

The University offered its usual low-key response to the rankings, saying that officials were “very pleased” but adding that “formulaic rankings can never reflect the distinctiveness of an institution and may not represent what an individual college can offer a potential student.”