Nota Bene: Peer Institutions

During my orientation to Virginia Wesleyan College and since my arrival here, I have repeatedly been asked for my perspective on competitors and peer institutions.  Because of the outstanding work of many, Virginia Wesleyan has grown in reputation regionally and nationally.  This is reflected in our positive ranking in a number of national ratings.

Most realize that because of our location and cost, our primary competition for applications come from publicly funded institutions. However, several different groups exist that are peers in operational philosophy and that share many common characteristics. These include National Liberal Arts Colleges, United Methodist Church affiliated colleges, and Old Dominion Athletic Conference colleges.

Each year, colleges submit comparison groups to the U.S. Department of Education for data analysis, effectively identifying institutions they see as their peers. These lists are usually not dominated by primary cross applications or even head-to-head competitors. Rather, most colleges select aspirational peers.

Mainstream higher education has recognized The Carnegie Classification™ (a.k.a. The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education), as the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education for the past four decades. According to their Website, starting in 1970, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed a classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis. Derived from empirical data on colleges and universities, the Carnegie Classification was originally published in 1973, and subsequently updated approximately every five years to reflect changes among colleges and universities. In 2014, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching transferred responsibility for the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education to Indiana University Bloomington's Center for Postsecondary Research. 

This framework has been widely used in the study of higher education, both as a way to represent and control for institutional differences, and also in the design of research studies to ensure adequate representation of sampled institutions, students, or faculty. Also, according to their website, to ensure continuity of the classification framework and to allow comparison across years, the 2010 Classification update retains the same structure of six parallel classifications, initially adopted in 2005. They are as follows: Basic Classification (the traditional Carnegie Classification Framework), Undergraduate and Graduate Instructional Program classifications, Enrollment Profile and Undergraduate Profile classifications, and Size & Setting classification. These classifications provide different lenses through which to view U.S. colleges and universities, offering researchers greater analytic flexibility.

 

These classifications were updated using the most recent national data available as of 2010, and collectively they depict the most current landscape of U.S. colleges and universities. In addition to the all-inclusive classifications, the Carnegie Foundation also completed another round of its Elective Classification on Community Engagement. Unlike the all-inclusive classifications based on secondary analysis of existing national data, elective classifications rely on voluntary participation by institutions, permitting analysis of attributes that are not available in the national data.  Because of our extensive mission driven commitment to community service and service learning and the outstanding work of Diane Hotaling (Director of Community Service), Dr.  Kathy Stolley (Associate Dean of Innovative Teaching and Engaged Learning), and Rev. Greg West (Chaplain), I think we would be wise to seek classification in the Community Engagement category. 

 

I place a strong emphasis in data driven decision making. The outstanding work of Donald Stauffer, who has overseen the Institutional Research function here for a number of years, prompted me to ask him to assume a greater role at the College, as Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst. In this new role, Don will continue to oversee traditional data collection and regulatory compliance, but will also conduct research and analyses to support college planning and assist with the development of academic and administrative policies.

 

To give us a better understanding of our peers, I asked three independent researchers to look at 10 years of data for Virginia Wesleyan.  They not only reviewed data, but looked at mission and church affiliation.  I then asked Don Stauffer to do some additional research and refinement. He presented those results. 

 

The institutions listed below were chosen through extensive analysis of schools with similar educational mission, resources, and a series of 25 "matching fit" characteristics. The goal was to build a benchmarking group of institutions comparable to Virginia Wesleyan in most aspects of the educational experience. 

 

Selected Peer Groups of Virginia Wesleyan College (August 2015)

Peer Group

 

Albright College                                    Reading, PA

Allegheny College                                 Meadville, PA

Austin College                                      Sherman, Tx

Birmingham‐Southern College                Birmingham, AL

Bridgewater College                              Bridgewater, VA

Elizabethtown College                           Elizabethtown, PA

Hartwick College                                   Oneonta, NY

Hood College                                       Frederick, MD

Illinois College                                     Jacksonville, IL

Juniata College                                    Huntingdon, PA

Lebanon Valley College                         Annville, PA

Lycoming College                                 Williamsport, PA

Lynchburg College                                Lynchburg, VA

Millsaps College                                   Jackson, MS

Moravian College                                 Bethlehem, PA

Muskingum University                           New Concord, OH

Oglethorpe University                            Atlanta, GA

Presbyterian College                             Clinton, SC

Randolph‐Macon College                       Ashland, VA

Roanoke College                                  Salem, VA

Susquehanna University                        Selinsgrove, PA

West Virginia Wesleyan College             Buckhannon, VW

 

 

Methodist Peer Group

 

Adrian College                                      Adrian, MI

Albright College                                    Reading, PA

Allegheny College                                 Meadville, PA

Birmingham‐Southern College                Birmingham, AL

Centenary College of Louisiana              Shreveport, LA

Lebanon Valley College                         Annville, PA

Lycoming College                                 Williamsport, PA

Millsaps College                                   Jackson, MS

North Carolina Wesleyan College           Rocky Mount, NC

Ohio Wesleyan University                      Delaware, OH

Randolph‐Macon College                       Ashland, VA

West Virginia Wesleyan College             Buckhannon, WV

 

I hope you find this information helpful.