First Internet-based College and University Rankings

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Colorado College Tops Williams in College Category;
Richmond, Middlebury & Wellesley follow

Harvard nips Columbia in University Category;
Michigan, Berkeley & Stanford Follow

Austin, Texas, USA.   September 19, 2008.   (Updated) In an exclusive TrendTopper Media BuzzTManalysis of the nation’s colleges and universities, the Global Language Monitor  (www.LangaugeMonitor.com) has ranked the nation’s colleges and universities  according their appearance on the Internet, throughout the Blogosphere, as well in the global print and electronic media.  This analysis will be updated on a quarterly basis.

In the University category, Harvard nipped Columbia for top spot with Michigan, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford following.  Rounding out the top ten were: the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Yale, Princeton and Cornell.

Taken as a whole, the University of California system would have outdistanced Harvard for the Top Spot by a wide margin.

In the Liberal Arts College category, Colorado College upset Williams for the Top Spot, while Richmond, Middlebury and  Wellesley followed.  This is the first time, in any national ranking that a Liberal Arts College from the West ranked in the Top Spot. Rounding out the Top Ten were: Bucknell, Amherst, Oberlin, Vassar, and Pomona College.

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	2008		2008
Rank	Top Universities	Rank	Top Colleges
1	Harvard University	1	Colorado College
2	Columbia University	2	Williams College
3	University of Michigan,	3	University of Richmond
4	Univ. of California, Berkeley	4	Middlebury College
5	Stanford University	5	Wellesley College
6	University of Chicago	6	Bucknell University
7	University of Wisconsin	7	Amherst College
8	Yale University	8	Oberlin College
9	Princeton University	9	Vassar College
10	Cornell University	10	Pomona College
11	University of Pennsylvania	11	Hamilton College
12	Johns Hopkins University	12	Union College
13	Duke University	13	Swarthmore College
14	Boston College	14	Colgate University
15	New York University	15	Bard College
16	University of Washington	16	Carleton College
17	Georgia Tech	17	Bowdoin College
18	U. of California, Santa Barbara	18	Connecticut College
19	MIT	19	Colby College
20	University of Illinois	20	US Naval Academy
21	Boston University	21	Barnard College
22	University of Florida	22	US Military Academy
23	Northwestern University	23	Bates College
24	University of Virginia	24	Bryn Mawr College
25	University of Texas, Austin	25	Skidmore College
26	Univ. of Southern California	26	Gettysburg College
27	Georgetown University	27	Davidson College
28	Vanderbilt University	28	Mount Holyoke College
29	University of North Carolina	29	Furman University
30	Brown University	30	Lafayette College

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“There are only three types of intellectual property in the US, and one of them is the trademark (or brand) which are intended to represent all the perceived attributes of a service - and institutions of higher education are no different,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst at GLM.  “Prospective students, alumni, employers, and the world at large believe that students who are graduated from such institutions will carry on the all the hallmarks of that particular school.  Our TrendTopper analysis is a way of seeing the schools through the eyes of the world at large.”

The schools were also ranked according to ‘media momentum’ defined as having the largest change in media citations over the last year.  The Universities that ranked highest in ‘media momentum’ were: Vanderbilt, Virginia, Emory, Rice, University of Texas, Austin, Washington University in St. Louis, Lehigh, and the Universities of California at Santa Barbara, Irvine, and Berkeley.  The Colleges that ranked highest in ‘media momentum’ were: Hamilton College, Pomona, Skidmore, Bard, Gettysburg, Sewanee (University of the South), Furman, Colby, Connecticut, and Colgate University.

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Rank	Universities — Momentum	Rank	Colleges — Momentum
1	Vanderbilt University	1	Hamilton College
2	University of Virginia	2	Pomona College
3	Emory University	3	Skidmore College
4	Rice University	4	Bard College
5	University of Texas, Austin	5	Gettysburg College
6	Washington University in St. Louis	6	Sewanee, U of the South
7	Lehigh University	7	Furman University
8	University of California, Santa Barbara	8	Colby College
9	University of California, Irvine	9	Connecticut College
10	University of California, Berkeley	10	Colgate University
11	University of Washington	11	Middlebury College
12	University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	12	Claremont-McKenna
13	Boston University	13	Carleton College
14	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	14	Whitman College
15	California Institute of Technology	15	Trinity College
16	Johns Hopkins University	16	University of Richmond
17	Boston College	17	Colorado College
18	Brown University	18	Bates College
19	Villanova University	19	Wesleyan University
20	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	20	Harvey Mudd College

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GLM used its proprietary Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) software for the TrendTopper Media Buzz Analysis. GLM used the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications to distinguish between Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges. The schools were ranked according to their positions in early September, a mid-year snapshot, and used the last day of 2007 as the base.
For more information, call 1.925.367.7557 or email TrendTopper@GlobalLanguageMonitor.com.  An in-depth report is available on subscription basis.