Forbes ranks New College among Nation’s Top 5 Public Colleges

For the second consecutive year, Forbes.com has ranked New College of Florida among the top five public colleges in America in its annual report on America’s Best Colleges. In its 2009 report, New College was also named the second “best college buy” in the country among all public and private colleges.

New College came in No. 5 in a list of top 100 public colleges and universities in the United States.  Only one other non-military school made the list of top five public colleges – the College of William and Mary in Virginia, at No. 4.  The top three spots went to the United States Military Academy, the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Naval Academy. Among all public colleges, the University of Florida was ranked No. 21 and Florida State University came in at No. 33.

When it comes to value, New College ranked even higher at No. 2, behind Berea College and ahead of all three military academies.  This exceptionally high score, which reflects both public and private colleges, reinforces New College’s consistent ranking as one of the best values in America by such entities as Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and The Princeton Review/USA Today.

Among the list of 100 public and private colleges, New College was ranked No. 61.

This is the second year that Forbes.com and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity have compiled a list of top colleges.  The 2009 report ranked 600 undergraduate institutions based on the quality of the education they provide, the experience of the students and how much they achieve. The entire report is heavily weighted toward the student’s point of view.

In an online story filed on August 5, Forbes.com editors wrote, “To our way of thinking, a good college is one that meets student needs.  While some college rankings are based partly on school reputation as evaluated by college administrators and on the amount of money spent, we focus on things which directly concern incoming students.”

According to Forbes, 25 percent of the rankings were based on 4 million student evaluations of courses and instructors, as recorded on the Web site RateMyProfessors.com. Another 25 percent was based on post-graduate success, equally determined by enrollment-adjusted entries in Who’s Who in America, and by a new metric, the average salaries of graduates reported by Payscale.com.  An additional 20 percent was based on the estimated average student debt after four years.  One-sixth of the rankings were based on a formula reflecting four-year college graduation rates.

The last component was based on the number of students or faculty, adjusted for enrollment, who won nationally competitive awards like Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes. New College has graduated one Rhodes Scholar and has one of the highest per-capita rates of Fulbright scholars among all colleges and universities.  New College had a record eight Fulbright scholars in 2009.

Forbes.com America’s Best Public Colleges 2009

Forbes.com America’s Best Buys College 2009

For more information about New College of Florida and its inclusion in this year’s Forbes.com rankings, please contact Jake Hartvigsen, director of public affairs, at (941) 487-4150.

To read the entire report on Forbes.com, visit http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/02/colleges-university-ratings-opinions-colleges-09-intro.html