Hometown Glory

Rice University No. 37, Texas No. 104 on America's Top Colleges? What's wrongwith the list

With student loan debt increasingly seen as a national, generational crisis, there's never been a more serious conversation about the value of a college education versus the cost.

So when Forbes set out to rank "America's Top Colleges" with the help of the Center for College Affordability, it set out to focus on "quality of teaching, great career prospects, high graduation rates and low-levels of debt" rather than academic reputation and selectivity.

Forbes' version of what makes a college a good value is less about tuition costs and financial aid and more about metrics of student success.

But when Houston's Rice University came in at No. 37 and the top of the list was populated by institutions like Princeton University, Williams College, Stanford University, the University of Chicago and Yale University — sparkling, top-tier programs, no doubt, but also places where annual cost can approach $60,000 per year — I was confused.

After all, even with my Owl bias aside (I went there), in the past year Rice was ranked by Kiplinger as the No. 4 Best Value in Private Colleges and earned the fifth spot from Princeton Review in the same category. (Though I should point out that Princeton and Yale also did well in Kiplinger and the Princeton Review).

But Forbes' version of what makes a college a good value is less about tuition costs and financial aid (which are a major factor in the other lists) and more about metrics of student success, including alumni listings in Who's Who in America and on the American Leaders List, alumni salaries according to Payscale.com, student evaluations on RateMyProfessor.com (seriously), freshman retention rates, alumni receiving doctorate degrees and students who receive nationally competitive awards.

Like the previous studies on what constitutes a collegiate best value, the four-year graduation rate and the average federal student loan debt (as well as the loan default rate) are also included.

Any school deserving of a "top college" ranking should satisfy each of these metrics, but overall the impression I get is that Forbes' data is skewed towards programs in which the student body is inherently more affluent and well-connected.

Considering only student debt without measuring costs and financial aid only tells us that the students who attend (or their parents) can afford the tuition, not whether that program is equally affordable to the average, well-qualified potential applicant.

That's why public schools — and their vastly reduced in-state tuition — barely make a blip on the Forbes' list, and how an internationally renowned research institution like The University of Texas could fall behind no-names like Westmont College in California and Dennison University in Ohio. At No. 104, UT barely comes in above Southern Methodist University (No. 105), which is a great school but certainly not a bargain.

What do you think of the Forbes rankings?

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”