UW-Madison Scores Highly in Manhattan Institute College Rankings

UW-Madison scored highly on the value added to education and the quality of its alumni network.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison recently ranked higher than Harvard or Yale in a national college ranking released by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank whose methodology differs significantly from traditional college rankings.

Out of 100 top universities evaluated by Manhattan Institute scholars John Sailer and Kevin Wallsten, UW-Madison was ranked 27th. This placed it on similar ground with Georgetown, Duke, and the University of Chicago.

The rankings were calculated using four main factors, each composed of multiple subcategories: educational experience (20 percent), leadership quality (20 percent), outcomes (40 percent) and student experience (20 percent).

UW-Madison scored particularly poorly in the educational experience category, with only 3.32 out of 20. The subcategories of curricular rigor and heterodox infrastructure contributed significantly to this low score, with scores of 0.15 out of 2 and 0.43 out of 13, respectively.

The faculty ideological pluralism subcategory also scored very poorly, being ranked in the bottom 15 percent of the 100 colleges. The Manhattan Institute explained that in the 2023-2024 election cycle, less than 2 percent of faculty campaign contributions went to right-leaning causes, while 98 percent went to left-leaning causes.

Student ideological pluralism was ranked in the top 25 percent, contrasting with the faculty’s. They cited “Political Balance of Student Ideological Identification” and “Political Balance of Student Organizations” as positive reasons for this score.

The university scored better in other categories, with a score of 13.45 out of 20 in leadership quality, 22.95 out of 40 in outcomes and a 10.96 out of 20 in student experience.

Many of the subcategories emphasize ideological diversity and free speech on campus, reflecting the Manhattan Institute’s stated values.

Although UW-Madison scored poorly in educational experience, its high overall ranking is largely explained by its performance in the outcomes category which carries the most weight in the ranking calculation. UW-Madison scored well on the value added to education and payback on education investment.

The quality of its alumni network ranked first among the 100 institutions in the ranking. The university also ranked 21st in the leadership quality category, largely because of UW-Madison’s support for free speech and resistance to politicization.

The Manhattan Institute provides a written description for each institution included in the ranking. In its description of UW-Madison, the Manhattan Institute highlighted what it described as a mixed record on free speech and ideological diversity.

The institute praised the university’s adoption of institutional neutrality and endorsement of the Chicago Principles, while also criticizing its “bias-response system,” which they claim does the opposite of what is intended. It pointed to survey data from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) that showed limited confidence from students that the “administration would defend a speaker’s right to express views in a controversy over offensive speech.”

They explained how the school was ranked in the top 20 percent for political tolerance among students: “Students tell FIRE that they view illiberal attempts to disrupt campus speech as ‘Unacceptable.’”

They also wrote that “UW-Madison’s curriculum needs serious reform,” citing that the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gave the school a D in its What Will They Learn? ratings. These ratings give schools a letter grade based on “how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program.”

However, ACTA “identified one area of excellence on campus: the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy, which sponsors speakers, colloquia, and an essay competition on themes of democracy and its core principles.”

Despite these criticisms and those for the lack of faculty ideological pluralism, the institute praised UW-Madison’s post-graduation outcomes, mentioning the strong alumni network and the short payback time for the cost of education.

In response, university spokesperson John Lucas said, “Though rankings should always be taken with a grain of salt, UW-Madison is glad to be recognized for its excellence across a wide range of traditional and non-traditional national rankings.”

When asked about the low score on ideological pluralism, Lucas pointed to the Wisconsin Exchange. “As you may already be familiar, Chancellor Mnookin embraces pluralism and created an entire campus initiative, Wisconsin Exchange, around promoting the concept with students, faculty and staff.” Lucas added, “It continues to be the university’s goal to have students learn in an inclusive environment that includes the widest range of backgrounds and viewpoints.”

Alex Tahk, a professor of political science at UW-Madison, said he finds the Manhattan Institute’s rankings “useful,” but emphasized that they have limitations and should not be treated as definitive. He noted that college rankings depend heavily on “what dimensions they’re trying to capture and how well they capture them.”

Tahk added that rankings like these often derive much of their value from sparking debate rather than providing authoritative evaluations, describing them as “conversation starters that are fun to talk—and argue—about.”

The University of Florida took the top spot in the rankings, followed by the University of Texas at Austin and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Regardless of debates over methodology, this ranking highlights UW-Madison’s strong post-graduation outcomes, alumni network and student political tolerance, while still pointing to areas where the Manhattan Institute thinks the university can improve.