Tarleton ranked fifth in Wall Street Journal

BY JOLEE SKINNER / Managing Editor

Tarleton State University was recently ranked fifth in the Wall Street Journal for universities highly recommended by students and alumni. 

The Wall Street Journal recently rolled out their 2024 annual “America’s Best Colleges” rankings in partnership with College Pulse and Statista. 

College Pulse and Statista conducted one of the largest surveys among students and alumni in every college in America that met their criteria according to the WSJ. The survey started in January of this year and then results were published in September. 

WSJ released survey results as well as scoring the colleges based on the survey results.

Tarleton received a score of nine out of ten on the question of, “If you could start over, would you still choose this college?”. 

Tarleton also received an eight out of ten on the question of, “Do you think your college will be worth what you and your family are paying?”

WSJ also surveyed career preparation for students graduating, with Tarleton receiving an eight out of ten. 

One of the more surprising and controversial rankings Tarleton found themselves on was the WSJ’s top party school list. WSJ ranked Tarleton State University as the fifth top party school in America, right underneath number four James Madison University. 

Avery Brown is a junior sports communication major and was surprised by this ranking. 

“It caught me by surprise whenever I found out that Tarleton State University was ranked number five in terms of being a party school,” Brown said. “Anywhere that has a big student population, will most likely have gatherings labeled in this way.”

The number one spot on this list went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. 

Jashone Titus is the president of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity at Tarleton as well as a member of the Black Student Union.

“I personally believe that if Tarleton is considered a party school, then education is no longer a priority to our student body anymore,” Titus said. “I believe that the idea of a party school is something any school can be considered as.”

The next college survey by the Wall Street Journal will be conducted in January 2024.