UCSB Slips in latest US News & World Report College Rankings

Why has UCSB started to decline in the national rankings? 

 Last year UCSB was ranked 45 in the US News & World Report’s annual college rankings.  This year, UCSB was in a four-way tie for 47^th place.  Moreover, within the rankings of public schools, UCSB slipped from its number 12 ranking last year to number 13 this year.  The Washington Monthly rankings placed UCSB at 57.

Aside from the lower overall ranking this year, there are several other rankings that do not bode well for UCSB. 

With regard to four-year graduation rates, UCSB is not even in the top 100.  Names like Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and Vassar rank very high.  The best and toughest universities in the country graduate a higher percentage of students in four years than UCSB does.  Why?  Perhaps the UCSB standard of getting a four-year degree in six years in order to extend the party lifestyle isn’t thought of as acceptable elsewhere. 

Interestingly, the local newspaper saw fit to comment on the fact that the UCSB had dropped from the number four party school in the country to the number 10 party school.  However, the Santa Barbara News Press failed to mention that UCSB had dropped in the academic rankings to number 47.  Apparently, the obvious fact that the emperor has no clothes is not about to be uttered by the local media.  Rather, the local media and the UCSB spin machine offer more of the same: report anything they can spin as positive and merely ignore all things negative.   To be fair, the SBNP did mention that UCSB had recently been ranked “#2 Marijuana friendly” school in the October issue of High Times magazine.   While the SBNP reported that UCSB had 91 drug related arrests in 2005, and is on its way to an estimated 120 in 2006 (a 32% increase), these facts rolled right off the back of the UCSB spin-doctor.  UCSB spokesman Paul Desruisseaux who rebuts the claim that UCSB supports marijuana use.  "It's against the law," he said. "We don't put a lot of credence in these kind of surveys. . . . I don't know where they came up with this information, but we certainly don't subscribe to it."  Note to Desruisseaux: look at the arrest reports; this may help you “subscribe” to the facts.

As far as we can tell, in the past few years, UCSB has expelled no one.  They have suspended (for three or more quarters) a mere two or three students per year for non-academic matters (read criminals).  How can there be hundreds of arrests for drugs, thousands for alcohol abuse, and hundreds more from everything from grand theft to assault to sexual assault and only a couple of students per year are seriously disciplined?  UCSB simply does not intend to take meaningful action to protect its students from crime.  They would rather keep their party school image to help recruit more of the party people.  

UCSB does rank very high on several other very embarrassing lists.  The Princeton Review (not affiliated with Princeton University) has UCSB ranked as follows:

Ranked #3 on the “Their Students (almost) Never Study” list

Ranked #10 on the “Party School” list

Ranked #14 on the “Lots of Hard Liquor” list

Ranked #17 on the “Reefer Madness” list

Ranked #20 on the “Class Discussions Rare” list

With the exception of the “Class Discussion Rare” and “Their Students (almost) Never Study” which indicate how poorly UCSB’s fairs in these academic areas, the rest of UCSB “top rankings” show a well-developed sleaze lifestyle.  The raunch culture is alive and well at UCSB.  No wonder UCSB also attracts the pornographers and sleazy reality shows. 

Another interesting statistic is the Happiest Students list.  It would seem that with all the drugs, liquor and parties, UCSB would rank high (no pun intended) on the Happiest Students list – it does not.  UCSB does not appear on the top 20 list when it comes to “Quality of Life” either.  So how is it that UCSB students rank high on the drunk, stoned and not studying list and yet do not achieve national rankings in happiest students category or quality of life?   Perhaps happiness and a high quality of life do not go hand in hand with the sleazy lifestyle glamorized by the UCSB/IV scene after all.  

We get a lot of hate mail from people (many of whom claim to have graduated from UCSB and from some who are proud to have attended these “past six years”) who talk about how much they love UCSB.  There is no doubt that many people do have wonderful memories of their time at UCSB.  However, one measure of the true affinity of its alumni for a school is to measure alumni giving.   Princeton, the top ranked academic school in the country also ranks number one for alumni giving with a 61% score.  UCSB ranks number 98 with 15% score.   Apparently not all the alumni hold UCSB in the “good investment” category.  We should also point out that we get lots of email from people who say that they are tried of being embarrassed in job interviews when the interviewers make pejorative remarks about UCSB being a “party school.” 

The ranking for actual graduation rates is another area that UCSB seems to have trouble.  Top schools like Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, Stanford, MIT all have actual graduation rates in the 94 to 98 percent range.  UCSB is at 79%.  In other words, less than four out of five people admitted to UCSB will graduate.  UCSB ranks 55 on the Graduation/Retention rankings.  In its overall ranking, UCSB scored below all other UC schools listed in except UC Riverside (founded in 1954) and UC Santa Cruz (founded in 1965).

According to the Princeton Review, this is how UCSB students describe themselves:

The typical UCSB student "comes from an affluent or upper-middle-class family. Roughly two-thirds are from Southern California and one-third are from Northern California." Although "the majority of students are white, Latino/ Chicano students are well represented on campus, as are Asians." Only a small minority of students come from out of state. One such student writes, "Everyone is from California and cannot understand people who are not. When I tell students that I am from New Jersey, most of them do not even know where it is on a map—no joke." Students exude California style and attitude. They are "very relaxed [and] know how to enjoy themselves. The typical male student has shaggy blond hair, a nice tan, skinny, and a surfboard or skateboard attached to him. The typical girl has her belly button pierced, halter tops and miniskirts on when it's 50 degrees outside, and shoes to match her sunglasses." Students tell us, "For the people who don't fit into this mold, it's no big deal. Everyone is pretty accepting of everyone else."

A harsh Cliffs Notes version of the above self evaluation would read something like this: “Geographically challenged spoiled rich white kids who are wanna-be surfers and party girls – but they are tolerant of those who cannot achieve these lofty goals - totally.”