I found this seminal 2019 consulting report about why SMU has slipped and what they should do about it.
https://www.smu.edu/-/media/Site/Provos ... .pdf?la=enHere's the conclusion:
The U.S. News rankings—and how they are calculated—are changing. While the
introduction of the Social Mobility factors has been decidedly negative for SMU’s ranking, it also presents a perfect opportunity for SMU to pivot how it considers its place in the rankings. The focus on incoming student quality, particularly as measured by average test scores, has served SMU well in protecting it against fierce competition and the introduction of these other, generally negative, factors. However, as we have discussed, there is
little room left to grow in the test score category. Instead, this is a real opportunity for SMU to nimbly
move toward addressing new challenges—particularly those of graduation rate and social mobility. These factors can make a real, appreciable difference on SMU’s overall rank while simultaneously improving the student experience.
We are confident that with dedicated effort and patience SMU can achieve its goal of becoming a top-50 ranked university.
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Pages 27-29 highlight the key causes of the recent drop, or lack of progress.
Pages 30-32 provide recommendations to improve.
1. Focus on graduation rate.
2. Increase quantity of low-income students and dedicate resources to their success
3. Improve freshman retention
4. Decrease reliance on test scores
5. Don’t stand still in inflating categories. SMU cannot afford to neglect test scores, graduation rates, expenditures for education, faculty compensation either, as inflation in them could dilute their overall benefit to SMU.
6. Be prepared for potential USNWR score calculation changes
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For fun, below is a link of historical US News rankings from the early '80s to 2007 for 57 leading universities. SMU didn't make the list.
https://publicuniversityhonors.com/2017 ... 1983-2007/A key finding is the drop of flagship public universities. For example, from 1983-88 Michigan, Berkeley, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas averaged a ranking of 14 and slipped to an average ranking of 34 in 2005-06. In 2022, those five had the same average ranking. UT and Michigan had improved while Madison, Illinois and Berkeley had slipped.
In 2009, SMU was ranked #67. It dropped to a low of 56 in 2012 and 2017 but has been rising since then to #72 this year. The closest ranking peer is Fordham U. Since 2009, it has averaged a ranking of 63.3. SMU has averaged 63.2. They have been tied in the rankings for seven of the past 15 years, including the last three.
Villanova, Santa Clara and LMU moved from regional US News rankings to national. In 2017, Villanova entered the national rankings ahead of SMU. Santa Clara U is ahead of SMU and Loyola Marymount is tied.
Which aspirant and peer universities have made the largest improvements or suffered the largest losses over the last 20+ years or since 2009 if not top 50 previously?
Aspirant: Northeastern, USC and Boston College are up. Brandeis, Emory, Tulane and Rochester are down.
Peer: TCU (#89) and American (#79) are up. Tulsa, GW, Lehigh and Syracuse are down.