But, first let me start with an important and necessary disclaimer:
HEE college rankings shouldn’t be taken seriously. If you read these lines and you are looking for a way to find the right college, the US News issue about Best Colleges in America is definitely better suited for your eyes.
Don’t think I need the disclaimer, my dear readers?
Well, think again.
Yesterday, we went very close to what I would call a delicate situation during an email exchange I had with a Senior Research Analyst from a well-known expert, independent nonprofit organization “whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves.”
This Senior Research Analyst had signed up for an HEE membership last Wednesday. So, I followed up with this person to find out the reason behind this sudden interest.
And, yesterday, during our email exchange, I was asked about “my looking at college rankings information” as well as the timing of the release of HEE college rankings.
Wow.
I quickly explained that HEE rankings were just a fun initiative, a sort of stress reliever for higher ed folks – nothing more. I also provided some references to more serious alternatives to the US News college rankings.
But, imagine for a minute what could have happened in a few months, hadn’t I been so honest?
- Millions of college applications submerging the admissions office at Tidewater Community College (the first institution listed on the final HEE rankings)?
- A dramatic decrease in the candidate pool at Yale University (#39)?
Yeah, it’s kind of scary. Now you see that my disclaimer was definitely not optional ;-)
So, without further ado and despite the fact that I’m breaking the media embargo I set myself for Friday 12AM ET (like the other guys), here are the final HEE college rankings (institutions are ranked by their number of HEE registered users and alphabetically):
- Tidewater Community College 18
- Duke University 10
- Penn State University 8
- SUNY 7
- Georgetown University 6
- Clemson University 5
- Harvard University 5
- Rutgers University 5
- UNC – Chapel Hill 5
- Ithaca College 4
- Johnson & Wales University 4
- Oregon State University 4
- Texas A&M University 4
- Texas Tech University 4
- Tufts University 4
- UC Davis 4
- University of Alberta 4
- University of Kentucky 4
- University of Michigan – Dearborn 4
- University of Nevada 4
- Wheaton College 4
- Alfred University 3
- American University 3
- Auburn University 3
- Concordia University 3
- DePaul University 3
- Georgian Court University 3
- HEC Montreal 3
- Louisiana State University 3
- Michigan State University 3
- Philadelphia University 3
- Rochester Institute of Technology 3
- Rollins College 3
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock 3
- University of Florida 3
- University of Nebraska – Lincoln 3
- University of Sydney 3
- University of Washington 3
- Yale University 3
- York University 3
