It was a big deal last year when Johns Hopkins University finally attained a long-time goal of being ranked as one of the top 10 universities in the country, as ranked by US News. This year, when they once again hit the mark, it’s kinda like… meh.
Actually, this year’s ranking is a bit different than before; last year, Hopkins had to share the tenth place slot with CalTech. This year, Hopkins occupies the spot all by itself. (CalTech is now 12th, and longtime Hopkins rankings rival Dartmouth is stalled out at 11th place.)
Now, of course we all recognize that such rankings are easily manipulatable systems that prioritize data points that may be of questionable educational value. That said, it’s also true that Hopkins’s rise in the rankings comes after the university–long considered a school that prioritized graduate research and treated its undergrads as a second thought–has started placing much more emphasis on the undergrad experience. On the Hopkins Hub, the university details some of those efforts, from new dorms to more financial aid to a new emphasis on undergrad research.
And so, despite our skepticism of the whole rankings project, we can’t help but feel proud to see Hopkins thriving in this way. Congrats, Blue Jays!
