Brook Report Ranking of the Best Colleges 2022

This is the Ranking of the best colleges in the United States for 2022. We use the revolutionary RealRank^TM methodology, the “platinum” standard for college ranking analytics. Are you wondering what that means? It means that we compiled zillions of data points (well, a lot) to create algorithms providing this top colleges ranking with real-world value for students, parents and alumni.

“This proprietary methodology is based on a unique set that has managed to shed light on the factors most important to grading colleges for real-world education, and real-world value.”

We expect the top colleges to imbue their students with the ability to live a fulfilled life and thrive in an increasingly diverse workplace and society. The traditional college rankings seem to vary randomly year-to-year and we have sought to provide something more meaningful. It is this philosophy that has guided the creation of this ranking, and has placed the Brook Report rankings on the path to becoming the most authoritative college ranking analytic service.

Ranking of the Best Colleges in 2022

We have analyzed over 300 colleges and created this RealRank ranking of the top 150. We will publish the remainder of the list in our next issue.

What is the RealRank Methodology?

So you’ve heard we use the RealRank methodology to compile these rankings of the best colleges. Now let’s take a look under the hood.

While other college rankings emphasize surveys of professors, or artificially inflated admission selectivity percentages, Brook Report analyzes real-world statistically valid factors to determine the real educational and resume value proposition in arriving at the top rankings. We apply this methodology across all the rankings you will find here on our public website. We have analyzed over 300 universities in developing the ranking of the top universities. The factors we consider in our methodology include:

• Educational Value – this means an emphasis on quality education in a student’s field, with a faculty that may or may not publish research papers, but most importantly also views student success as paramount.
• Real-World Renown – this is a resume value factor. We expect the top colleges to convey a public image that enhances their alumni community’s place in society. Universities are expensive and we expect the top ones to put their alumni on a path to real success, not just while at the school, but after graduation.
• Real World Diversity – we expect the top colleges to expose to young people to all the different backgrounds that make up a modern diverse society – racial diversity, gender and gender preference/orientation diversity, socioeconomic diversity and subject matter interest diversity. It is this diverse quilt that makes up the modern workplace, and we expect the top colleges to provide both the environment and the value system to enable young people to live effectively, and happily in the modern world. This also means that colleges with a less diverse profile may fare lower in our rankings than in some traditional rankings.
• Traditional Reputational Perceptions – Although we doubt the accuracy of college ranking analytics based on traditional survey-based methodologies, or methodologies that overvalue inaccurate data, such as inflated admission selectivity criteria, the fact of the matter is that those rankings are widely read, and believed. We cannot ignore the fact that there are traditional reputations attached to various universities, even if our data suggests inaccuracies. Although these societal reputational values will change over time, they have an impact on the real-world resume value and should therefore also be considered in a real-world ranking service such as ours.

Each of these broad categories of factors may include numerous subcategories considered in analyzing and developing these rankings.

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(Photo Credit: Wally Gobetz, “Columbia University – Alma Mater and Low Memorial Library.”)

This is the first year that we published our rankings, so we are curious about what you may think. Use the comment box below or our contact form to discuss.