PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh is among the top universities in the U.S. and — for the second consecutive year — is the best public university in the Northeast, according to the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings.
"This recognition is further proof that a University of Pittsburgh education is a great value, that our faculty are engaged teachers and productive scholars, and that a Pitt degree is a key to success in the working world," said Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher.
Among the four categories on which the overall rankings are based — student outcomes, institutional resources, engagement and environment — Pitt's campus in Pittsburgh has its highest national ranking in student outcomes (No. 56).
Student outcomes were weighed at 40 percent, and the category was broken into four elements: graduation rates, potential post-graduation salary, a student's ability to repay loans and a school's academic reputation.
Pitt boasts a 6-year graduation rate of 82.7 percent. According to the University's rankings profile, alumni can expect to earn an average annual salary of $48,000 10 years after their freshman year.
The rankings also examined an institution's resources, a category that includes the amount of money each institution spends on teaching per student, the ratio of students to faculty members and the number of published scholarly research papers per faculty member. This category accounted for 30 percent of the overall view.
Engagement accounted for 20 percent. Times Higher Education (THE) captured student engagement across the United States through its US Student Survey. For 2016-17 THE gathered the views of more than 200,000 current college and university students on a range of issues relating directly to their experience at college. These issues ranged from engagement with learning, a student's opportunity to interact with others and a student's likelihood to recommend a school to friends or family. This category also considered the number of different subjects taught.
The remaining 10 percent measured environment, which examined the makeup of the student body at each campus and determined the institution's commitment to creating a diverse, supportive and inclusive environment while students are at college. The proportion of international students, faculty diversity and student diversity — both racial and ethnic diversity as well as economic diversity — were also measured.
Much of the data used to create the rankings came from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, known as IPEDS. Schools are required by the U.S. Department of Education to report key statistics to IPEDS, making it a comprehensive source for education data.