Vassallo: Top 20 Colleges in the Country

Photo by UM Communications

A current ranking by Allen Kim (Startclass) featured on the Internet showcases the Top 20 Public Colleges in America.

Ole Miss is not mentioned, however, five schools from California are plus Florida and Georgia from the SEC. Other notables were Penn State, University of CT, GA Tech, Michigan and the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

The criteria selectively chosen to justify the rankings included the following: Ranking as to Research, Undergraduate acceptance rate, Total enrollment, Number of incoming freshmen, Composite ACT range and In and out-of-state tuition.

I would have added a few more and possibly have deleted several of Allen’s. For example, having talked to many parents in past years, safety is extremely important. The overall quality of campus life is critical. In light of recent national events, how could safety not be at the top of any list?

In addition, the beauty and physical appearance of the campus are a very high consideration for new students. If you don’t believe me, just ask our football staff!

And larger does not necessarily mean better. One of the more appealing reasons I chose Ole Miss was its small size. The one-on-one relationship with professors was an aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed. Being a number was not appealing to me. (Allen also had the University of Texas in his Top 20 with their 50,000 students.)

It is true that our out-of-state tuition is not as attractive as in previous years (it was $19,144 in the 2014-15 school year), but that had to occur because of demand and restricting space
for our instate kids. After all “the school up north” continues to be the University of Mississippi.

In closing, Ole Miss continues to be an outstanding public institution thanks to the efforts of Robert Khayat and countless others. Having a well-rounded university is very important.
Students today (as in 1965) enjoy competitive athletic teams. I noticed that our football team is ranked No. 11 in one preseason national poll. I could not find the Colorado School
of Mines, University of California – Berkeley or University of MN Twin Cities in the top 50.

Steve Vassallo is a HottyToddy.com contributor. Steve writes on Ole Miss athletics, Oxford business, politics and other subjects. He is an Ole Miss grad and former radio announcer for the basketball team. Currently, Steve is a highly successful leader in the real estate business who lives in Oxford with his wife Rosie. You can contact Steve at sovassallo@gmail.com or call him at 985-852-7745.