University Times

A comparison of select Pennsylvania institutions from data in U.S. News and World Report’s 2007 “best colleges” edition:

• Acceptance rate: Pitt accepted 53 percent (up from 49 percent in last year’s U.S. News data) of its applicants for fall 2005’s entering class (of 18,153 total applicants); Penn State, 62 percent (29,904 applicants); Carnegie Mellon, 39 percent (15,777 applicants); Temple, 63 percent (17,352 applicants); the University of Pennsylvania, 21 percent (18,824 applicants).

(The most selective institution nationally was Harvard with a 9 percent acceptance rate.)

• Student-faculty ratio: Pitt, 15:1; Penn State, 17:1; CMU, 10:1; Temple, 17:1; Penn, 6:1.

• The average six-year graduation rate: Pitt graduated 70 percent of its 1999 entering students within six years (up from 67 percent of 1998 entering students); Penn State, 84 percent; CMU, 86 percent; Temple, 57 percent; Penn, 94 percent.

(The top spot was held by Harvard at 98 percent.)

• Pitt’s retention rate of fall 2005 entering freshmen: 89 percent (up from 88 percent in 2004 data), compared to Penn State’s 92 percent, CMU’s 94 percent, Temple’s 83 percent and Penn’s 98 percent. Penn’s retention rate tied for the top spot with several other institutions including Princeton, Yale and Duke.

• Pitt’s percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students is 46 percent (43 percent using 2004 data); Penn State’s is 31 percent, CMU’s is 66 percent, Temple’s is 37 percent and Penn’s is 73 percent.

• Pitt’s percentage of classes with 50 or more students is 15 percent (down from 16 percent using 2004 data), while Penn State’s is 18 percent, CMU’s is 9 percent, Temple’s is 8 percent and Penn’s is 8 percent.

• Pitt’s percentage of students receiving need-based grants is 34 percent (down from 36 percent last year); Penn State’s is 29 percent, CMU’s is 48 percent, Temple’s is 71 percent and Penn’s is 41 percent.

• The Pitt alumni giving rate is 16 percent (same as 2004, according to U.S. News); Penn State’s giving rate is 21 percent, CMU’s is 25 percent, Temple’s is 10 percent and Penn’s is 40 percent.

—Peter Hart