New Ranking Tool Highlights UW Tacoma Values

The New York Times has created an interactive tool that allows students, parents and others to design their own college rankings. When users of the tool prioritize high earnings, low sticker price, low net price and racial diversity for colleges with enrollment between 3,000 and 10,000, UW Tacoma is ranked number one among universities nationally.

“This new tool makes it easy to see that UW Tacoma is really good at delivering on our strategic values of access, diversity and excellence,” said Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange. Other schools that rank highly include Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and MIT, as well as public universities like Rutgers and several campuses of the California State University system.

The tool draws on the Times database of 900 four-year U.S. colleges and universities with at least 500 students and where more than 50 percent of students graduated within eight years.

Motivated to develop the tool by ongoing controversies over one-size-fits-all rankings that use rigid formulas, the Times Opinion team said “our intent is to place value and emphasis on your opinions about college and show the range of schools that could meet your individual needs and goals.”

The tool allows users to move sliders that vary the weight given to ten metrics including median income of alumni, college sticker price, academic profile, racial diversity, economic mobility and others. Results can be filtered according to college size, location, public or private, selectivity and other criteria.

“Playing with the tool is a fascinating process,” said Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Mentha Hynes-Wilson. “As you move the sliders, you can watch the school rankings change in real time. It really empowers those in the college search process to take control of what’s important to them.”

Other media outlets and ranking organizations in addition to the Times have recognized UW Tacoma’s value in recent years:

• #1 top performer for social mobility in Washington (#8 in the West) – U.S. News & World Report, 2022
• #2 “Best Bang for the Buck” in the West – Washington Monthly, 2022