WSJ/College Pulse 2024 Best Colleges in the US

[Bill Brasky]

https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college...article_inline

I know these rankings don't necessarily mean much, but we're not even in the Top 400. The methodology is heavily weighted towards salary/years to payoff tuition/graduation rate WTF Guice???

LSU - 199
Loyola - 327
Tulane - 354
ULM - 357
ULL - 383

Remember around the turn of the century, the big thing was we're a "selective admissions" institution? How's that working out?

[Tech52]

https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college...article_inline

I know these rankings don't necessarily mean much, but we're not even in the Top 400. The methodology is heavily weighted towards salary/years to payoff tuition/graduation rate WTF Guice???

LSU - 199
Loyola - 327
Tulane - 354
ULM - 357
ULL - 383

Remember around the turn of the century, the big thing was we're a "selective admissions" institution? How's that working out?

So we are ranking schools based off the salary of its graduates?

[DallasDog]

That is a pretty common factor when these outlets compile rankings. US News uses it as one of the criteria when ranking law schools every year. It is not an invalid criteria, but it is very subjective if school A has a law, Med, or other high level graduate schools, and school B doesn't. It will also negatively impact us because we don't have programs that feed directly into the higher tier paying jobs.

[glm47]

So we are ranking schools based off the salary of its graduates?

What’s wrong with that?

[TechDawgMc]

What’s wrong with that?

It's not really the traditional point of a college education. More importantly, that number is going to be more determined by what degrees students get than it is by the quality of the education. Engineers are going to make more than history majors. That doesn't mean the history department isn't doing its job well.

[DallasDog]

I have been teaching for over two decades and the traditional point of college stopped being relevant to the last couple of generations. Most students and their parents are hyper focused on one career/goal/path and the salary etc. is a major goal in their search.

[OLDBLUE]

I have been teaching for over two decades and the traditional point of college stopped being relevant to the last couple of generations. Most students and their parents are hyper focused on one career/goal/path and the salary etc. is a major goal in their search.

BUT, If the student seeks the diminishing job market careers, CHECK the value found in this report:

https://kpel965.com/best-value-colleges-louisiana-2025/

[CARTEK]

The KPEL article is not well written or researched. The tuition perks mentioned for USL and NLU apply to every state university! Tech has the highest 4 and 6 year graduation rates with USL, Nicholls, and LCC all below 50% in both categories. No mention of Tech's STEM rankings or nursing rankings (albeit an ASN, since we "gave" the BSN to Grambling (ranked last in the state)), which are higher than the others mentioned.

[CARTEK]

Overall, the academic ranking of Louisiana Tech University is solid though not in the very top tier nationally:

• In the 2025 edition of U.S. News & World Report (USNWR), Louisiana Tech is listed as a “Top Tier National University” with a rank of #161 of 700 among public schools in the U.S. (and second in the state of Louisiana) in the “Top Public Schools” category.
• On the site Niche, Louisiana Tech is ranked #190 of 1,613 “Best Colleges in America” and #82 of 699 “Top Public Universities in America.”
• Globally, for example by Times Higher Education, Louisiana Tech is placed in the 801-1000 of 2500-3000 range worldwide.

[Blue Dawg]

Overall, the academic ranking of Louisiana Tech University is solid though not in the very top tier nationally:

• In the 2025 edition of U.S. News & World Report (USNWR), Louisiana Tech is listed as a “Top Tier National University” with a rank of #161 of 700 among public schools in the U.S. (and second in the state of Louisiana) in the “Top Public Schools” category.
• On the site Niche, Louisiana Tech is ranked #190 of 1,613 “Best Colleges in America” and #82 of 699 “Top Public Universities in America.”
• Globally, for example by Times Higher Education, Louisiana Tech is placed in the 801-1000 of 2500-3000 range worldwide.

Honestly considering the budget and political obstacles these are probably pretty good outcomes.