Methodology and Data

As the preeminent architect Robert Burns once noted, "the physical design of the campus makes a fundamental contribution to the pursuit of academic excellence."  Architectural beauty is determined by inclusion in Architectural Digest’s (2024) 64 most beautiful college campuses. Each college was assigned either a 1 (inclusion) or a 0 (exclusion).  

Historical significance is determined by the number of National Historic Landmarks (NHL) on the school campus. Of over 90,000 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, less than 3% are designated NHLs for their “outstanding historical significance.” 

Trees enhance the beauty of a built environment and provide a tranquil setting that is conducive to reflection, learning, and well-being. Trees also promote health by lowering air temperatures and filtering out air pollutants. Tree coverage was calculated for each campus using the HIFLD colleges and university GIS layer and itree canopy tool.  

A college's endowment relative to the size of its student body is reflective of its capacity to accept students without regard to socioeconomic background, provide generous financial aid for those in need, offer outstanding research and travel opportunities, build state of the art facilities, and maintain its buildings and grounds. Data were obtained from the 2023 National Association of College and University Business Officers website and in some cases from school annual reports.

SAT scores are a recognized standard of elite academic performance. Data for each school were obtained from the NCES college navigator site for Fall 2023 (enrolled first-time students). We used the class of 2023 national average SAT score (1028) for our zero value to provide greater spread in the data.

In an era of grade inflation, academic performance relative to one's classmates is a better metric of student achievement than GPA alone. Data were obtained from each college or university's most recent Common Data Set.** 

A measure of the quality of a school's faculty. Students at an elite college or university should be taught predominantly by professors with the highest level of training in their respective fields. Data were obtained from each school's most recent Common Data Set.**

A measure of the accessibility of teaching faculty to students. Student to faculty ratios were obtained from each college or university's most recent Common Data Set.**

A school's commitment to free speech is a critical component  of the learning environment on campus. We used the Overall Score obtained from College Pulse and FIRE's 2025 College Free Speech Rankings.  

An important measure of the financial success of graduates  relative to the price of their school and relative to those who chose not to attend college. We used Third Way's 2024 Price to Earnings Premium as the metric for return on investment. 

The 5-year (2019-2023) average rate of students that go on to achieve a PhD in science and engineering fields. This metric reflects the talent, training, and continuous academic engagement of alumni/ae from a particular baccalaureate institution. Data were obtained from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates.

The 5-year (2019-2023) average rate of students that go on to achieve a PhD in the humanities fields. The lower weighting of earned doctorates in the humanities relative to science and engineering reflects the smaller number of doctorates awarded in the humanities. Data were obtained from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Graduation rate is an important first outcome of a college or university. Data were obtained from each school's most recent Common Data Set** and, with a few exceptions, reflect the Fall 2017 cohort of students.

Elite schools demonstrate excellence not only in the classroom but also in the athletic arena. We defined athletic excellence as the total number of NCAA team championships that a school has won over the past 6 years. For schools that have joint athletic teams (e.g., Pomona-Pitzer), we assigned each school an equal fraction of the total number of team titles. Data were obtained from multiple sources including but not limited to college websites, Wikipedia, and the NCAA website.

Student ratings are an important measure of a school's performance and include everything from the quality of food and dormitories, social opportunities on and off campus, and the overall academic experience. Student ratings were obtained from the College Niche website for each school and were calculated as the percentage of 5-star reviews (excellent) of the total number of reviews submitted.

Several schools had missing data for one or more variables included in our performance categories. For example, the University of California schools do not currently accept and therefore report SAT scores. Other schools do not report high school class rank ranges or number of instructional faculty with doctorate/terminal degrees in their most recent Common Data Sets (CDS). For these schools, we used data reported in earlier CDS, when available, up to three years previously. 

 For the few schools that did not report class rank data even in earlier CDS, we assigned a score that was equal to the lowest score for this variable among comparable (i.e., size, region, public/private) schools that had equal or better median SAT scores.  

 For the few schools that did not report data on number of faculty with doctorate/terminal degrees even in earlier CDS, we assigned a mean score for this variable calculated from comparable (i.e., size, region, public/private) schools.

For colleges and universities that were not included in College Pulse and FIRE's Free Speech Rankings or Third Way's Price to Earnings Premium tables, we assigned a midpoint (median) value for the variable to that school.  

We eliminated a school from consideration in our rankings if it had more than two missing variables that required estimated data.