Talk:Tougaloo College

First, is it really appropriate to characterize Tougaloo as one of the US News and World Reports' "best colleges" given that it is ranked as a fourth tier liberal arts school? Because there are fewer liberal arts colleges than there are national doctoral universities, this ranking hardly something to brag about, as it means that Tougaloo is actually closer to the bottom of the rankings for liberal arts colleges than it is to the top.

Second, though Tougaloo was cited as a "top 20" liberal arts college by the Washington Monthly, the WM admittedly places emphasis on the number of students who receive pell grants (i.e. are from lower income families) and the number who enter service in one of the three branches of the US military, etc. when determining its rankings. This ranking system hardly generates a system of academic prestige. Rather, all it really seems to tell us about Tougaloo is that the majority of Tougaloo's students are interested in service to the American armed forces and are predominantly poor, among other, similarly non-academic characteristics.

Third, the Princeton Review's "best in the Southeast" distinction is actually bestowed on a great number of schools. It hardly signifies that Tougaloo is in any way unique or prestigious. In fact, both Ole Miss and Mississippi State were also named among the "Best in the Southeast." Given that the state of Mississippi is ranked dead last out of all 50 states in terms of education, if its two major public institutions of higher education have earned the label of "Best in the Southeast," it appears as if anyone could. Further, the Princeton Review's compilation of Tougaloo's student statistics demonstrate that it is not quite ready to be labeled as a "top school." Tougaloo's average incoming student GPA, for example, is a rather low 3.23. This statistic doesn't place Tougaloo anywhere near the nation's top liberal arts colleges in terms of GPA, to say nothing of incoming test scores...