Rising to the Top in College Rankings

Thursday, August 08, 2019
Mussallem Student Union, exterior

Rose-Hulman once again ranks among the nation’s best colleges for academic rigor, student-faculty interactions, an inviting campus culture and career opportunities among surveys compiled for several guides.

Rose-Hulman gets high marks for career preparedness, faculty/staff interactions, academic rigor, science facilities and residence life in student surveys featured in guides providing valuable information for prospective students and families.

Based on the surveys of 140,000 students across the country, this year’s Princeton Review’s Best 385 Colleges guide ranked Rose-Hulman among the nation’s best in the following areas:

No. 6 – Best Science Lab Facilities
No. 6 – Students Study the Most
No. 9 – Most Accessible Professors
No. 11 – Best Career Services
No. 14 – Best Career Placement
No. 20 – Best College Dorms

Rose-Hulman also was featured on the Best Value Colleges and Best Midwestern lists.

The Princeton Review points out that Rose-Hulman “earns its ‘reputation as an excellent undergraduate engineering school’ with a combination of strong academics and ‘personal attention, small class sizes, and a family atmosphere,’ a rarity among tech schools.

One student told the publication that “if you are walking down the hall, [professors] will say hello and usually ask how you are doing” and another student points out that while “theory is important, application is everything.”

Finally, The Princeton Review stated that all of the students’ hard work “pays dividends in the form of ‘a great alumni base’ and a near 99 percent job placement rate six months after graduation.”

Campus Culture Ranks High in ‘Fiske Guide to Colleges’
A profile of more than 300 of the nation’s “best and most interesting” colleges by the Fiske Guide to Colleges once again showcases Rose-Hulman for offering “that rare combination of technical education and personal attention.”

It is also pointed out that the institute “offers an outstanding technical background and bright prospects for future employment. Students are smart, motivated, and highly competitive, and love using their computers for work and play.”

A chemical engineering student told the guide that Rose-Hulman students “are always tinkering, and their hands can’t move as fast as their minds do.”

Other students stated they “appreciate the community feel created by small classes and the school’s small size, balanced with a bit of healthy competition.” One student said, “the atmosphere makes you want to try to do your best and stand out, but everyone is here to help you do that.”

Student-Faculty Interaction Cited by Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal
Rose-Hulman’s educational environment also earned a 10th place national ranking for student-faculty interaction in the Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal survey of more than 200,000 U.S. students. Students were asked to give their college a rating of 0-10 in response to the question: To what extent do you have the opportunity to interact with the faculty and teachers as part of your learning experience.

That interaction could include having the opportunity to ask questions during lectures, participating in discussion sessions, and working with faculty on academic activities other than course work, such as term papers.

Rose-Hulman was the only STEM-specific college in the publication’s top 20 ranking. The publication highlighted that smaller colleges “provide a better setting for meaningful interactions with staff.”

We’re No. 1 in Industry Week’s List of Colleges Producing Engineers
Rose-Hulman rose to the top of Industry Week’s list of U.S. colleges producing engineers, based upon placement information gathered by Zippia. The employment firm used the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to examine employment levels of mechanical, industrial and civil engineering students 10 years after graduation.

The publication highlights that Rose-Hulman graduates “are exploring the edge of space,” along with making contributions to other technical fields through industry and government projects.

See all of Rose-Hulman’s national rankings and distinctions here.