Woodbury University ranks in the middle in recent report
A rankings system considered flawed by Woodbury University’s president did not rate the small, private nonprofit institution high in its latest round of reviews.
U.S. News and World Report gave the Burbank-based university 43 points out of a total 100, with other regional rankings faring a little better.
Woodbury tied for 59th place with Texas A&M Laredo among regional universities in the West, a zone that spans from Texas and Oklahoma to the east, Washington to the north and Alaska and Hawaii to the west.
“I don’t put a lot of stock into the rankings because they’re very generalized and some of the metrics that they use are incomplete or don’t work for us,” said David Steele-Figueredo, Woodbury’s president.
U.S. News and World Report has three systems for categorizing and ranking schools. There are national universities, which offer research and doctoral programs, undergraduate-focused liberal arts colleges as well as regional universities and colleges, which fall in between.
The rankings are based on a variety of criteria, including graduation and retention rates (27%), expert opinion (20%), faculty resources (20%), student excellence (10%), financial resources (10%), graduation-performance rate (8%) and alumni giving (5%).
In Southern California, Woodbury was No. 15 regionally behind a group that included Loyola Marymount, which was No. 1 in Southern California and third in the West, Chapman University, which came in No. 5 in the West, and the University of Redlands, ranked No. 11 in the West, which has a regional campus in Burbank.
Area universities such as UCLA and USC were listed in the national rankings and not included in the regional section.
“For Woodbury, prior to this year, the biggest school [here] was architecture, and we don’t have a four-year graduation program. It’s either five years or six years,” Steele-Figueredo said. “We’re immediately at a disadvantage when we measure ourselves with the four-year graduation rate.”
Steele-Figueredo noted that Woodbury students are encouraged to take classes outside their major, or change majors while in school, which leads to educational plans that stretch beyond four-year windows.
Steele-Figueredo added that, although he’s not content with the school’s 79% retention rate, it’s still above the norm.
“We’re a small, private university with a high number of first-generation students and our retention rate is still above the industry average of 76%,” he said. “We’d like to be higher, but we’re already above average.”
Woodbury stood out among its regional peers for a second straight year in percentage of international students, as it was No. 1 in the West among 130 schools, with 21%.
“Diversity is fundamental to the American educational experience, and we, at Woodbury, are proud to be a beacon for international students,” Steele-Figueredo said. “Woodbury is and has always been a welcoming place, where diversity and inclusion have long been hallmarks.”
Woodbury was also ranked No. 41 in “Best Value Schools” in the West and in the high 400s among total business schools, nationally and regionally combined.
Steele-Figueredo said he puts more faith behind industry and independent rankings, which traditionally have rated Woodbury higher.
The university’s animation program was ranked No. 17 in the West by Animation Career Review magazine last year and recently the architecture program was ranked 18th by the DesignIntelligence architectural research firm.
Princeton University was ranked highest among national universities, while Harvard was second and Columbia took third.
Stanford came in at No. 7 as California’s top school, while UCLA was the nation’s top public institution and was ranked No. 19 overall. Santa Clara University was rated the top regional university in the West.
