New ‘Build Your Own Rankings’ NY Times’ Tool Bodes Well for TAMIU

College rankings at this time of year are everywhere, along with concerns about what they’re truly measuring and whether rankings really capture the goals, needs, or priorities of potential students. This week, Quoctrung Bui and Jessie Ma, writers at The New York Times, took a novel approach by sharing an interactive tool that provides a Build Your Own Rankings approach.  

Those choosing to Build Their Own using Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) will find that the tool consistently ranks TAMIU nationally in the top five. The tool is located at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/27/opinion/build-your-own-college-rankings.html 

Using slider tools to answer the question “what matters most to you when choosing a college,” users can locate college rankings that reflect their values. Additional filters can narrow the search using size, location, and other specifics.

TAMIU associate vice president for Research and Sponsored Projects, Dr. John Kilburn, an avid New York Times reader, used the tool.  He noted that when sliders are deployed for what potential TAMIU students often search for: economic mobility, low net price, campus safety -- TAMIU figures in the Top Five nationally.

“For example, sliding ‘Economic Mobility’ and ‘Low Net Price,’ TAMIU is number three nationally, with the closest Texas competitor at number six, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. When I add in ‘Campus Safety,’ TAMIU jumps to number one. I add ‘High Earnings’ and TAMIU is third nationally.  Given potential students and their families’ interest in rankings and keen online research into college and universities as they look at institutions, I think it’s a tool to consider,” Dr. Kilburn noted.

The Times’  tool only includes those colleges and universities that graduate more than 50% of their students and used sources from the U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Niche, and Opportunity Insights. About 900 American colleges and universities were analyzed.

The authors are also quick to note that the tool is only a step in students’ college/university search and “no amount of data can give you a complete picture…you’ll have to talk to people, explore a school’s offerings and make a visit if you can.” 

This Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., TAMIU will host Discover TAMIU, its ninth annual family-friendly event celebrating the excitement and discovery made possible at TAMIU.  The free event offers over 150 activities throughout the 300-acre campus.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their friends and family to enjoy a day full of fun and educational activities, in addition to music and dance performances.  Details and an online program are available at tamiu.edu/discovertamiu.

Registration for Maymester, Summer, and Fall 2023 begins Monday, April 3 at 12:01 a.m. View the registration schedule here: https://www.tamiu.edu/registrar/registration.shtml.

To learn more about TAMIU’s Registration processes, visit the dedicated Registration Hub at https://go.tamiu.edu/registration. 

University news and information can also be found online at tamiu.edu and on TAMIU’s social channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.