You’re paying to attend what The Daily Beast ranked as the 14th least rigorous school in the nation — 12 spots ahead of two more Florida public universities.
The Daily Beast published its list of 2012’s top 25 least rigorous four-year universities in the nation earlier this month. The Daily Beast compiled a list of 200 schools around the nation based on the percentage of students admitted, as well as the average SAT/ACT scores of students at the time of admission. They also used data found on College Prowler, a website that allows college students to review their universities, to rank the difficulty of the 200 schools and narrow the list down to 25.
Four of Florida’s state universities ranked in the Top 25 Least Rigorous Colleges in addition to FAU. University of Central Florida (UCF) topped of the list at number one, followed by Florida State University (FSU) at number two. University of South Florida (USF) made the list at number four and University of Florida (UF), at number 21, according to The Daily Beast.
FAU ranked as one of the least rigorous based on the reviews written by its students on the Prowler.
“Curriculum is well balanced and workload is moderate and reasonable for most students who also have to work part-time,” College Prowler username Kisielewicz, a sophomore english major, wrote on the site in June 2011.
The website allows students to grade the school on topics, such as Academics, using a letter grade scale. The overall grade for FAU in the field of Academics is a B-. College Prowler gives overall grades to the schools based on specific criteria., including standardized test scores, graduation rate and student-faculty ratio.
Another student on the website, SquirellyGoodness, a sophomore psychology major, wrote in April of 2012, “the workload is about average, meaning students don’t get a boat-load of projects or papers to write in one term,” concerning the psychology program.
Scott Silversten, academic vice president of Communications and Marketing, takes pride in FAU’s reputation, regardless of the ranking.
“Our reputation as a first-choice university is evidenced by FAU’s continued growth and success,” he held.
Although FAU made the list of Least Rigorous Colleges, Silversten feels it does not discredit the university’s success.
“Florida Atlantic University takes great pride in its academic excellence and achievements.”
collegeprowler.com/florida-atlantic-university/reviews/#ixzz266TF8fym
Along with its other reviews, College Prowler has a rating system wherein 77 percent of students rate FAU curriculum as “Most Flexible” and 59 percent rate the workload as “Most Manageable”.
Lucas • Sep 21, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Why don’t you ask people in the library how rigorous they think their schoolwork is, not people that are sitting in the student union playing dominoes.
Solange Aboagye • Dec 19, 2021 at 11:36 pm
Some students that go to the library don’t work or study there either.
Matthew • Sep 19, 2012 at 11:53 pm
Well done. You should submit this piece when potential employers ask for writing samples.
Dave • Sep 11, 2012 at 12:41 am
A student will put in as much work as a professor expects. If the professor is lazy and “doesn’t want to have students write out answers because then I have to read all that” then the class is going to be a joke. The professors at FAU are all over the spectrum, some asking too much and some asking too little. The Provost needs to crack down and make sure the expectations are sufficient for a college education.