Since 2000, with the approval of The Rensselaer Plan, the campus and its students have seen and felt the trend of renaissance and change on campus. New state of the art facilities have been built, such as The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies. On top of that addition, made in 2004, plans and construction are underway for the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center and the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations.
This resurgence of enthusiasm and push for a better Rensselaer has caught the eye of the nation, most specifically the rankings of Kaplan and Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report.
In early August, Kaplan and Newsweek named RPI as one of the 25 schools on their “New Ivies” list. This new category, according to Annette Riffle, Contributing Editor to the guide is to broaden the range of schools for students to consider. “All the schools on the list are top rate, outstanding in academics, extracurricular activities, and surroundings that will give students a full college experience.”
The Newsweek article itself called the introduction of this new category as a means of “supply meeting demand.” Since the number of college-bound students has gone up, so has the number of “world class schools.”
Riffle explained that the process was difficult; the 25 chosen schools were researched quantitatively by taking into account admission statistics and qualitatively by talking to faculty, alumni, current students, and high school guidance counselors.
Rensselaer was chosen to grace the “New Ivies” list due to the fact that applications increased 23 percent in 2005. The school, according to Riffle, which has always been a well known and respected school in the Capital Region, is now being noticed more and more as an important institution for science and engineering on the national level.
In addition to that, the fact that the class of 2010 is 29 percent female was noted in the Newsweek article. Rensselaer’s state of the art facilities and future plans to continue the renaissance on campus in conjunction with The Rensselaer Plan were also noted as giving students many resources on campus at their disposal.
What does “New Ivy” mean in comparison to the long standing tradition of the known Ivy League schools? The purpose of the list, as explained by Riffle, is to show that these “New Ivies” are becoming more and more popular, and Kaplan and Newsweek hope the list will broaden students’ horizons, showing them that they can get a quality academic and college experience at these schools.
For the individual schools themselves, the honor of being on the list is a “feather in the cap,” according to Riffle. She went on to say, “This list gives distinction for the schools and shows that the schools are up and coming. Most of the schools are well-known long-standing institutions to those who live regionally near them. However, now we are informing the whole United States about the options students have and allowing them to broaden their horizons with this new category.”
On August 28, it was announced that U.S. News & World Report has increased RPI’s ranking from 43rd in the nation to 42nd. In addition to that, RPI was ranked 24th in “Best Values” and Rensselaer’s School of Engineering is ranked 19th in the nation.
In response to this news, President Shirley Ann Jackson was quoted saying, “Rensselaer is proud of its ranking among the elite 50 universities in the nation. We are making investments in faculty, facilities, and research to give our students nothing less than a superb educational experience, expanding their sense of infinite possibilities by offering a depth and breadth of academically challenging and personally stimulating programs. And, we want them to have fun.”
Jackson further commented that, “We are educating the next generation of leaders: innovators, entrepreneurs, creators, and thinkers who will meet the challenges of the 21st century, but the most important affirmation of the successful transformation under way is the quality and intellectual breadth and personal commitment of the stellar students who have chosen to enroll at Rensselaer.”
Even though Rensselaer made both lists, how do the two ranking systems compare? Riffle explained that the lists are intended to help students really know about as many quality schools as possible. The range of different lists available to students allows them to look at different aspects of the schools and aids them in their process. The “New Ivies” category is just one more perspective of one snapshot area that students can look at to get to know a school better.
Some see the rankings given by both Kaplan and Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report as a reflection of the efforts that began in 2000 with the institution of The Rensselaer Plan. Acting Provost Robert Palazzo commented that, “The rankings of the U.S. News & World Report are the latest among a number of indicators that Rensselaer continues to enjoy extraordinary momentum as a global research and teaching university.”
He went on to say, “Striving under the guidance of The Rensselaer Plan, we have broadened the academic curriculum, improved the quality of life for students and faculty, made bold strides in the development of novel and broad-based research infrastructure, continue to invest in the arts and humanities, and continue to promote entrepreneurship across the curriculum. These institutional investments ... makes Rensselaer one of the most vibrant research and education institutions in the world, a truly exciting place to be.”
