This is a good annual report that ranks the top American Univs on 9 research parameters.
Surprising that # of patents, # of research papers are not among the research parameters considered here...but average SAT score of students is.
Many indicators serve this purpose, but most observers know that research matters more than anything else in defining the best institutions. In its annual reports, The Center provides both the total research and development expenditures and the highly-competitive federally sponsored research and development expenditures as indicators of research scale. While the dollars give a good approximation of research activity, it is the faculty who provide the critical resource for university success, and The Center reports the number of members of the National Academies among an institution's faculty along with the number of significant faculty awards earned as indicators of faculty distinction. Students provide a double indicator by reflecting both the externally perceived quality of the institution and providing with their own credentials an important contribution to that quality. For the graduate and research instructional dimension, The Center provides the number of doctorates awarded and the number of postdoctoral appointments supported; and The Center offers median SAT scores as indicators of student competitiveness.
Both private and public universities live on the resources generated from many sources, but critical to their success are the size of their endowments and annual giving . Endowment reflects the long-term strength of accumulated private support and in some cases institutional savings that delivers an income to important purposes every year. Annual giving provides an indicator of the current level of an institution's private contributions both to current expenses and towards increased endowment. By including both indicators, The Center gains the opportunity to note historical and emerging strength in private support for research universities.
