Each year colleges submit to the federal Department of Education a list of other colleges that they consider their "peers." As the Chronicle's article says, "The groups sometimes represent a college's actual peers but more often reveal their aspirations... The typical college selected a comparison group of 16 colleges with a higher average SAT score and graduation rate than its own, lower acceptance rate, and larger endowment, budget, and enrollment." So it's an interesting way to "rank" colleges, while at the same time revealing which other schools consider UC to be either a "peer" or who aspire to be a peer of UC's.
The data, and the rankings
UC ranked as the 103rd most desired "peer" school in the country. Not bad at all, especially because the top of the list is dominated by small liberal arts schools (there's more schools trying to *become* great small liberal arts schools than trying to *become* giant public research schools).
Schools that list UC as a peer:
Argosy U/Atlanta
CUNY Queens C
California State Polytechnic U, Pomona
Florida International U
Florida State U
George Mason U
Indiana U-Purdue U, Indianapolis
Iowa State U
Rutgers U, New Brunswick
Rutgers U, Newark
Shenandoah U
U of Alabama, Birmingham
U of Central Florida
U of Colorado, Denver and Health Sciences Ctr
U of Dayton
U of Houston main campus
U of Illinois, Chicago
U of Louisville
U of Memphis
U of Missouri, Kansas City
U of North Texas
U of Phoenix - Cleveland Campus
U of South Florida
U of Texas, Dallas
U of Toledo main campus
U of Utah
U of Washington
U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Virginia Commonwealth U
Wayne State U
For some reason, that website didn't include the institutions that UC listed as peers. So I went to the federal website and looked it up myself:
Schools that UC lists as a peer
Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)
Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)
Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA)
Indiana University-Bloomington (Bloomington, IN)
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
North Carolina State University at Raleigh (Raleigh, NC)
Ohio State University-Main Campus (Columbus, OH)
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (University Park, PA)
Purdue University-Main Campus (West Lafayette, IN)
Rutgers University-New Brunswick (New Brunswick, NJ)
Texas A & M University-College Station (College Station, TX)
The University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN)
The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)
University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
University of California-Davis (Davis, CA)
University of California-Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
University of California-San Diego (La Jolla, CA)
University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL)
University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO)
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
University of Georgia (Athens, GA)
University of Houston (Houston, TX)
University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago, IL)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL)
University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
University of Louisville (Louisville, KY)
University of Maryland-College Park (College Park, MD)
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)
University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, MO)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus (Pittsburgh, PA)
University of South Carolina-Columbia (Columbia, SC)
University of South Florida-Main Campus (Tampa, FL)
University of Washington-Seattle Campus (Seattle, WA)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI)
Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, VA)
So, the institutions that were on both lists are:
Florida State
Rutgers (main campus)
U. of Central Florida
U. of Houston
U. of Illinois, Chicago
U. of Louisville
U. of South Florida
U. of Washington
Virginia Commonwealth U
The data, and the rankings
UC ranked as the 103rd most desired "peer" school in the country. Not bad at all, especially because the top of the list is dominated by small liberal arts schools (there's more schools trying to *become* great small liberal arts schools than trying to *become* giant public research schools).
Schools that list UC as a peer:
Argosy U/Atlanta
CUNY Queens C
California State Polytechnic U, Pomona
Florida International U
Florida State U
George Mason U
Indiana U-Purdue U, Indianapolis
Iowa State U
Rutgers U, New Brunswick
Rutgers U, Newark
Shenandoah U
U of Alabama, Birmingham
U of Central Florida
U of Colorado, Denver and Health Sciences Ctr
U of Dayton
U of Houston main campus
U of Illinois, Chicago
U of Louisville
U of Memphis
U of Missouri, Kansas City
U of North Texas
U of Phoenix - Cleveland Campus
U of South Florida
U of Texas, Dallas
U of Toledo main campus
U of Utah
U of Washington
U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Virginia Commonwealth U
Wayne State U
For some reason, that website didn't include the institutions that UC listed as peers. So I went to the federal website and looked it up myself:
Schools that UC lists as a peer
Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)
Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)
Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA)
Indiana University-Bloomington (Bloomington, IN)
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
North Carolina State University at Raleigh (Raleigh, NC)
Ohio State University-Main Campus (Columbus, OH)
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (University Park, PA)
Purdue University-Main Campus (West Lafayette, IN)
Rutgers University-New Brunswick (New Brunswick, NJ)
Texas A & M University-College Station (College Station, TX)
The University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN)
The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)
University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
University of California-Davis (Davis, CA)
University of California-Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
University of California-San Diego (La Jolla, CA)
University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL)
University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO)
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
University of Georgia (Athens, GA)
University of Houston (Houston, TX)
University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago, IL)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL)
University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
University of Louisville (Louisville, KY)
University of Maryland-College Park (College Park, MD)
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)
University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, MO)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus (Pittsburgh, PA)
University of South Carolina-Columbia (Columbia, SC)
University of South Florida-Main Campus (Tampa, FL)
University of Washington-Seattle Campus (Seattle, WA)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI)
Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, VA)
So, the institutions that were on both lists are:
Florida State
Rutgers (main campus)
U. of Central Florida
U. of Houston
U. of Illinois, Chicago
U. of Louisville
U. of South Florida
U. of Washington
Virginia Commonwealth U
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