Rankings Links & Information
Non-Academic & Miscellaneous
Note: While these sites may contain information of value to you, the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign do not endorse the sites or the information they contain. For more information and current research on rankings, we encourage you to read some of the articles listed in our College Rankings Bibliography and to see our Caution and Controversy page. For questions or comments, please contact Nancy O’Brien.
America’s 10 Snowiest Colleges and Universities
Methodology: Researchers cross-referenced the location of schools with the 30-year seasonal snowfall average from the nearest National Weather Service NOW data site.
The Weather Channel developed this ranking based on the accumulation of snow Division I schools have reported during the last 30 years. A picture with a brief annotation about the weather is presented for each school.
Bicycle-Friendly Universities
Methodology: Universities are evaluated on criteria known as the 5 Es.
The League of American Bicyclists developed the Bicycle-Friendly Universities ranking based on factors such as the education and enforcement of bike safety, planning bike programs, and incentives to use bicycles as transportation. The rankings are categorized by platinum, gold, silver and bronze medals instead of a traditional numerical ranking. Additional resources include various links about maintaining and developing a bike friendly community and a score card for an informal evaluation of bike-friendliness.
College Football Attendance Rankings
Methodology: The data is ranked by the percentage of attendance to the stadium’s capacity, although the average attendance is listed as well.
The Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective is a student-run organization at Harvard that compiled data ranking universities based on their attendance at football games. The rankings are separated into categories like Top 5 Public Schools, Top 5 Non-Bowl Teams, or Best in Each Conference.
Greenest Universities
Methodology: Ranking are based on the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) system. Factors include academics, engagement, operations, and planning and administration. A detailed explanation of the ranking criteria is available by clicking “See Methodology” on the site; no direct link is available.
BestColleges.com uses AASHE STARS rating data to rank the 15 greenest colleges and universities in the United States. The intention of the list “is to spotlight the schools that have launched the most impactful initiatives to reduce on-campus waste and energy consumption, promote alternative transportation, provide funding to student and faculty-led green proposals, and take other measures to benefit the environment.”
Young America’s Foundation Top Conservative Colleges
Methodology: This site offers no separate delineation of its methods, but the introduction explains that it looked at school programs and mission statements in compiling the list.
Young America’s Foundation suggests colleges that “offer a holistic conservative experience for students”–“institutions that proclaim, through their mission and programs, a dedication to discovering, maintaining and strengthening the conservative values of their students.” The foundation points out that the list is not intended to be exhaustive, and that the schools are not listed in any particular order. Annotations are offered for each school to explain why they made the list.