Investment into research is one of the factors that keeps high-ranking private universities at the top of the lists of US university rankings. This is made possible by the funds that these universities have and continue to receive from their alumni. The Endowment Fund that most private Universities possess runs into the hundreds of Millions of Dollars. And Grants from governments also are received for research which makes these institutions unfettered by any financial stress.
In contrast, Public Universities are receiving consistently lesser funding over the last three decades. This then leads to reputed faculty moving to private Universities where they can continue with their research without any worry about budgetary allocations.
With a higher investment into research, cited researchers and published papers which are a component of University rankings, are also quite higher amongst private Universities.
The student-teacher ratio is also quite lower at private universities than at public universities which take in students in the tens of thousands. As intake into private Universities is very competitive, the rate of graduation is better at private Universities.
Dinesh, I completely agree with the investment into research part! It's a self-fulfilling prophecy- the brand, quality and history of private institutions attracts donors, which in turn attracts and creates plethora of research and grant opportunities for leading researchers. That scenario in turn attracts students that want to work with these researchers and contributes greater investment into the institutions and their reputation. A great point!
Dinesh Kumar
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