How are public universities ranked these days?

I'm trying to understand where public universities stand in terms of rankings. Are there any comprehensive lists or reports that highlight the best public colleges, and what criteria are used to rank them?

There are indeed comprehensive lists that rank public universities, several leading education publications like U.S. News & World Report, Times Higher Education, and QS World University Rankings (also known as Quacquarelli Symonds) publish such lists annually.

When these ranking systems evaluate public universities, they consider a range of factors. These could include:

1. Academic reputation: This is generally assessed through surveys of academics such as faculty members, who are asked to identify the institutions they consider to be the best in their field of expertise.

2. Student outcomes: This includes graduation rates, retention rates, and job placement rates after graduation. Higher rates in these categories tend to indicate that a school is successful in educating its students and preparing them for their careers.

3. Faculty resources: This encompasses factors like faculty-to-student ratio, faculty salaries, and the percentage of faculty members with the highest degree in their field. These statistics give an indication of a school's ability to attract and retain high-quality faculty members, which in turn benefits the students.

4. Financial resources per student: This is a measure of how much a school spends on instruction per student, which can be a proxy for the level of individual attention and resources available to each student.

5. Research output: Many rankings, particularly those with a global scope, place a heavy emphasis on the volume of research produced by a university and its impact, as measured by citations in other research papers.

6. Student selectivity: This includes the average standardized test scores of incoming students, the percentage of applicants who are accepted, and the percentage of accepted students who choose to enroll (also known as yield rate).

These aforementioned factors provide a broad overview, but each ranking system uses its own unique formula to weigh these different factors. As a result, while there are commonalities, each ranking system may provide a somewhat different perspective on which public universities are the best. Therefore, it's a good idea to look at multiple rankings to get a more holistic view.

Remember, however, that rankings should not be the only factor you consider. It's also essential to investigate other factors specific to your needs and career goals, such as specific program strength, location, size, cost, campus culture, and extracurricular opportunities.