All Over Albany

US News ranks for Capital Region colleges

US News released its vaunted college rankings today (not important, of course... unless your school ranked well). Here's how local schools ranked.

(Plus a ranking in which UAlbany tops RPI.)

National Universities

#50 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Described as "most selective" (40% acceptance rate), with a "high" 4-year graduation rate (65%). Also "high" room and board fees ($11,975). By the way: RPI is 71.5-28.5 male to female. And 54% of students are engineering majors. (RPI was ranked #41 last year)

#138 University at Albany
Described as "selective" (47% acceptance rate), with a "medium" 4-year graduation rate (55%). And "high" room and board fees ($10,958) -- though in-state tuition is $7,172. (UAlbany was ranked #143 last year.)

Princeton and Harvard tied for #1 in this category.

National Liberal Arts Colleges

#40 Union College
Described as "more selective" (42% acceptance rate), with a "high" 4-year graduation rate (74%). (Union was ranked #41 last year.)

#49 Skidmore College
Described as "more selective" (47% acceptance rate), with a "high" 4-year graduation rate (80%). And "high" room and board fees ($11,304). By the way: Skidmore is 62-38 female to male.

#112 Siena college
Described as "selective" (60% acceptance rate), with a "high" 4-year graduation rate (74%). And "high" room and board fees ($11,434). By the way: 70 percent of Siena students have a car on campus.

The #1 school on this list is Williams College, just across the border in Williamstown.

Regional Universities (North)

#39 College of St. Rose
Described as "selective" (64% acceptance rate), with a "high" 4-year graduation rate (57%). And "high" room and board fees ($10,422). Gender split: 69-31 female to male.

#49 Sage Colleges
Described as "selective" (68% acceptance rate), with a "medium" 4-year graduation rate (46%). And "high" room and board fees ($10,675). Gender split: 79-21 female to male.

A different sort of ranking

The Washington Monthly recently released its own set of college rankings, with a focus on "on [schools'] contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country)."

National Universities
#76 University at Albany (with relatively high marks for social mobility and community service)
#77 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (with relatively low marks for social mobility and community service, and high marks for research)

Liberal Arts Colleges
#90 Skidmore College (relatively high marks for social mobility)
#103 Union College (a high mark for research expenditures)
#179 Siena College (relatively lower marks for community service)

Earlier on AOA:
+ Where Capital Region colleges rank on Princeton Review lists
+ Union, RPI in top 20 for "return on investment"
+ Skidmore, Union, RPI among nation's most expensive