From under to 50 in 2015 to high 70's in 2022

[GrimReaper]

Should read "How good are the parents?". High Schools could easily be measured by the percent of parents present at "back to school" night. Prep schools are so named because they "prep for the SAT" from 8th grade on.

It's a public high school. If you're asking how involved are the parents, the answer is very.

If by "prep school", you mean the elite, independent, private schools like Andover, Groton, St. Paul's, and Lawrenceville they do a lot more than simply prep for the SAT. And they were called prep schools long before the SAT existed.

Getting back to the HS at which my wife teaches, I'd venture to guess that 90% of the families could afford to send their kids to an elite private school, but they, following the excellent example of BobPSU92, choose not to.

 

[Midnighter]

It's a public high school. If you're asking how involved are the parents, the answer is very.

If by "prep school", you mean the elite, independent, private schools like Andover, Groton, St. Paul's, and Lawrenceville they do a lot more than simply prep for the SAT. And they were called prep schools long before the SAT existed.

Getting back to the HS at which my wife teaches, I'd venture to guess that 90% of the families could afford to send their kids to an elite private school, but they, following the excellent example of BobPSU92, choose not to.

Same for where we live - our public school pyramid is probably the best in Va and most of not all families could do private if they wanted. But, the independents are relatively small and competition (including DC) is pretty tough. We did private for many reasons; college prep just one of them.

 

[TiogaLion]

Same for where we live - our public school pyramid is probably the best in Va and most of not all families could do private if they wanted. But, the independents are relatively small and competition (including DC) is pretty tough. We did private for many reasons; college prep just one of them.

@GrimReaper

It's the parents that make the school. Parents that actually care about education enough to make sure their children do their homework, show up to school on-time, are respectful of the teachers and of school property, listen/believe the teachers when issues develop. If you have parents like this you'll have a top notch school. Oh, and these parents don't have to have money to care about education.

Yes, prep school offers more than most public schools, but the most important thing presented from 8th grade on is standardized test preparation (SAT and ACT). That, and resume building such that every student has many impressive extras to put on their college applications. It is truly a way for big money to separate themselves from the huddled masses.

 

[Nits74]

yes there has been much that has been debated on what if anything these lists show...maybe just to sell subscriptions to something who knows but dropping like a rock cant look good over a 7-8 years span thats 2 full cycles of graduates

And as always, these rankings are called into question whenever Penn State drops in them. Didn't hear too much of this when it was ranked much higher.

 

[Pennstatel0]

I don't know; I think if it's all about finances, then probably. Academics? Sure. Maryland is a solid school, but the campus is......not my favorite. Haven't been to Rutgers.

Gonna disagree there.
Marylands campus is actually pretty nice. Similar to PSU actually.

Now, College Park is nothing like State College. It’s a dump.

 

[91Joe95]

Neeli comments about #77:

"While we value rankings and other surveys, it also is true that a single rating or number cannot tell the full story of Penn State and its broad impact, created by an innovative 20-campus educational model recognized for preparing graduates who are sought after by employers, and the breadth and depth of a top-25 research university," said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi.

"More than 381,000 Penn State alumni live and work in the state of Pennsylvania. The University contributes billions to the Pennsylvania economy each year and has helped to create more than 105,000 jobs across the commonwealth. Our brilliant faculty and students generate nearly $1 billion in annual research expenditures and each day are working to solve pressing problems that impact our world. With the support of our entire Penn State community we have achieved record fundraising success in support of our students and our mission," Bendapudi said. "We have 24 campuses and a World Campus that meet students where they live. And we offer more than 275 high-quality undergraduate majors, along with resources such as Complete Penn State, which are designed to help students finish their chosen degrees on time and with less debt. Numbers such as these also indicate the impact Penn State is having across Pennsylvania, across the nation and around the world."

While I agree with her to an extent, the fact is that many people look no further than these rankings.

https://www.psu.edu/news/academics/story/penn-state-ranks-31st-among-national-public-universities-us-news-rankings/

Didn't she also state she wanted psu to contact them and get them to re-rank? I wonder how much that costs, and why psu wasn't doing it before if it is truly that open for manipulation. Perhaps they should have also objected and or shed light on the methodology before.

 

[Midnighter]

Didn't she also state she wanted psu to contact them and get them to re-rank? I wonder how much that costs, and why psu wasn't doing it before if it is truly that open for manipulation. Perhaps they should have also objected and or shed light on the methodology before.

She's keying on the 'business of Penn State' (economic impact, fundraising, research expenditures) and it's impact; not necessarily the quality of education (which is what the rankings are about).

 

[razpsu]

Interesting conversation.

my daughters elected to stay at north myrtle beach high school which is pretty good and we have challenged the school to add more ap classes rather than trying to dump them off at scholars academy and aast schools. It seems to be working as scholars are taking kids that have lower gpas than my daughter and aast just basically opened their doors by decreasing gpa to get in.

my wife is adamant about why we will send them to psu rather than Clemson (in state). Psu is almost 3 times out of state than Clemson. When she looked at the rankings I heard an ear full!