Abstract
U.S. News annually ranks universities' academic quality based on indicators claimed by U.S. News as the most prominent academic quality indicators (AQIs). In today's competitive higher education market, universities are concerned about their positions in U.S. News World Report (USNWR) rankings. On one hand, among all AQIs, undergraduate academic reputation (UAR) perceived by respondents to USNWR reputation survey has the highest weight in the ranking methodology. On the other hand, studies show that universities' overall rankings play a significant role in their perceived UAR. Accordingly, there is a feedback loop between UAR and overall ranking. Although the general impact of the rankings on UAR has been studied, the impact of each component of the rankings on UARs has not been explored thoroughly. Therefore, this study investigated the impacts of USNWR AQIs on UARs through bivariate analyses, and developed models to identify AQI(s) that can help explain UAR. The required data for top 50 national universities were collected from USNWR for 2005-2018 timeframe. The findings of the bivariate analyses show strong correlations between UAR and Overall Ranking, Average Freshman Retention Rate, Average of SAT, Acceptance Rate, Predicted Performance, Actual Performance, Average Alumni Giving Rate, Selectivity Rank, and Graduation and Retention Rank. The regression analyses reveal that UAR is predictable by Average of SAT 25th-75th Percentile, Freshmen in Top 10% of HS Class, % of Classes of 50 or More, Actual Performance, Predicted Performance, and Financial Resources Rank. The finding indicates that UAR is a multidirectional concept and influenced by multiple AQIs related to student resource, faculty resource, financial resource, and university and student outcomes. Keywords: U.S. News World Report (USNWR) ranking, Undergraduate Academic Reputation, (UAR), Academic Quality Indicator (AQI)
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