" Wow, that's a bit surprising. I'm sure Doane is a fine school, but I can't say that I've even met many graduates from the college, and I've met even less who have been really successful. I know more people from Creighton and Wesleyan who have graduated and gone on to have great careers.

Also, I'm not sure the Who's Who in America criteria is worth as much as Forbes thought. Here's a quote about it:
"Tucker Carlson, in an article entitled "The Hall of Lame" that appeared in Forbes Magazine in 1999, wrote that the selection process is neither rigorous nor meaningful, and self nominators and thousands of people not particularly notable are included, such as bowling coaches, teachers and landscape architects. Carlson also writes that Marquis makes money selling addresses to direct mail marketers."
Maybe Doane just does a better job with submitting students or encouraging students to submit themselves. "

" It is nice to see a local school so high in this set of rankings. However, as I think many realize, these rankings are apparently so skewed in favor of small schools that they must be discounted. Some of the results are just too laughable. Wellesley (#8) ahead of Yale (9)? Worse yet, Wabash (12) and Centre Colleges (12 and 13) ahead of MIT (14)? Stanford University at #23? And Cooper Union (42), simply, I suspect, because it provides full-tuition scholarships to its students, ranks ahead of the University of Virginia (43)?

Well done, Doane, but I wish publications like Forbes would stop putting out rankings that don't pass the smell test. It's very hard to compare apples to oranges, which is why the U.S. News rankings are at least somewhat plausible. "

" As a 2005 Doane Alum I am proud the tradition continues!! "

" It is all in the eyes of the beholder!!! I've known several medical doctors that were educated in very small nearly unknown schools that
became giants and the best in their field. Its not the school, its the
person and what they are meant to be. Also know alot who became very
successful that never even went to college!!! A good example is, take
a look at the mess in Washington D.C. Just because they got elected and
rake in the big bucks doesn't mean they are successful!!!!! "

" While many ranking entities are scrutinized and not all rely on the same information to appropriately guage the "best" status, we (Pat) shouldn't downgrade the accomplishments of an institution or its graduates just becuase you haven't "met many graduates from the college" or have "met less who have been really successful". Are you saying that because a teacher who graduated from Doane but didn't win teacher of the year isn't successful, even though he/she may have had a hand in increasing science or math scores of students (maybe your children if you have any) in the local school system because of what he/she learned at Doane? Examples such as this are endless.

If you're looking for glam or glitter, here's a brief list of "successful" alumni from Doane off the top of my head:
Doug Wilson '57, national (probably world) expert on Thomas Jefferson, successful author and historian. Very well known in the world of academia, history and politics.
Robert Taylor ('30s), famed actor. I'm not 40 yet, but even I know about Robert Taylor and have watched his classic movies.
Don Nyrop '34, youngest CEO (at 42) in the history of Northwest Airlines and is credited for not only saving the airline, but being the visionary behind it's global success.
Name escapes me, but when the Pope was shot all those years ago, the surgeon that worked on him was a Doane grad.

if you want more local, it's a long list. I could go on with millionaires, famed faces and athletes. Just because you haven't met them, doesn't mean they don't exist..you just might not be a part of "our crowd". "

" here is an idea of who's who... the creator of crocs? Doane Grad... Kenexa in lincoln? ran by a few doane grads... there is a LONG list of successful doane grads.. as an alum of 2004- nearly ALL of the people i know have very stong, good paying jobs. "

" Pat, I am greatly offended that you belive that teachers are "not particularly notable." I just have one question for you: where would you, where would anyone be, without teachers?
I am a current Doane student and am very proud of this institution. I understand that polls can and do draw criticism, and President Brand addressed this in his comment above. Regardless of what others may think, I belive that Doane deserves this recognition. Congratulations Doane! "

" That is funny. Centre ahead of MIT? They can't even spell there. Although I will conced that MIT is easier to spell ..... "

" Uh, Student, I make that statement about teachers. Read the post again and you'll see that it was a quote. Not a quote of mine. And of course you believe that Doane deserves the recognition. You're a student at Doane.

I'm not saying Doane is a bad school. I'm saying this is a bad survey. Skeptical hit the nail on the head. "

" Nebraska's Hastings College is ranked 226 and Boston University is 384??An interesting set of rankings.

Students and their parents should really visit schools in person, though. My daughter and I just returned from a road trip to 7 different universities and it was a real eye opener to see them for real, and not just what's on their web sites or in brochures or in the various rankings. In the end, it's what's a good fit for the student (and what a person can afford). "

" I'm sure Doane is an O.K. school, but not great. Due to large turnover, I have the opportunity to work with many individuals who have degrees from schools in and around the Lincoln area. We need people with above average reading and writing skills. Through 15 years of work experience, the best "kids" come from Nebraska Wesleyan and Union College. Doane-Crete students are just average. Don't get me started on Doane-Lincoln, which is a complete joke of a diploma mill. I have yet to find a graduate from Doane-Lincoln who was even challenged at that school ! "

" As a graduate of Doane even I will admit that those rankings are WAY off. I appreciate the gesture from Forbes but it's completely meaningless. You can't compare the University of Nebraska, Stanford, MIT, etc. to a small liberal arts institute. "

" While Doane may be a fine institution along with others that scored highly, these so-called rankings by Forbes are very dubious/questionable when they calculate a portion of their final scores with highly unscientific data, i.e. ratemyprofessor.com. Many notable professors aren't even LISTED on that site and those that are, many times, become the target of lazy students who wanted a venue for complaining about an professor who makes them study the coursework. Holy threats to validity, Batman! "

" Whoops. I meant "I didn't make" the statement. I must be off my game today. "

" I agree with Yeah I don't think so. Doane-Lincoln should advertise themselves as "So easy, a 9th grader can do it!" "

" Any ranking of schools that uses RateMyProfessor.com as 25% of its score is bogus. RateMyProfessor (and RateMyTeacher) are just a place for students to whine. Half the time the teachers/instructors/professors that are listed for any given school are incorrect. "

" As a Doane grad, I'm glad to see ANOTHER ranking that holds Doane in high regard/number/whatever. It just validates that Doane is an EXCELLENT value for your money. As for successful graduates, the one person listed a few, but I know of a couple who are rather "obscure" but successful. One that comes to mind is Jess Zeiss (Class of 93) who is now a VP with First National Bank of Omaha. Another: Anton Yost (Class of 93-I think), an up and coming real estate agent in Omaha. Another alum (name and year escapes me) retired a few years ago after a long stint with Iowa Western Community College. Matter of fact, at least a couple of faculty members at Iowa Western have degrees from Doane. Another alum, J. Patrick McArdle (Class of 68-I think), is the Saline County Judge. Judge Nuerenberger (I think I spelled that wrong) who retired a couple years or so ago from the bench in Lincoln, was a Doane grad. I could go on and on, but there are many varieties of alums in successful positions. They may not be noticed but they are there! "

" more at Doane Lincoln than I ever did at UNL. "

" I concur with "Can't believe it." I actually attended the Masters Counseling program at Doane-Lincoln. I couldn't believe how easy the coursework (what coursework?) was. Wesleyan by far put me through "academic bootcamp" much more than Doane-Lincoln. I will say that Wesleyan prepared me for the rigors of pursuing even higher education. I lasted for nine credit hours at Doane-Lincoln and thought I was wasting my time. Others thought it was great, everyone gets an "A."! However, I'm much more motivated in learning and was looking for something that challenged me. Doane-Lincoln loves 2-3 page papers. I was doing 20 plus in undergrad classes. Yes, I definitely was challenged at UNL, and I'm sure others would be challenged anywhere else but Doane-Lincoln. What an extremely poor program with a poor local reputation! Don't waste your money. "

" Based on some of my co-students when I finished at Doane-Lincoln, the instructors had no choice. Many of the students were normal college aged and still couldn't do college level work, thus the classes are dragged down to the lowest common denominator. You have to ask for harder work to do. Some of the working students were the worst. " Can we leave early? I worked all day today." "Im tired, sick, my kid is at daycare late, I have to get up early, waaa waaa waaaa". YOu knew what you were getting into when you signed up. "

" Doane Campus in Lincoln is an easy non-traditional school. I attended two classes but couldn't afford to go back, which may have been a blessing. I do remember that for those two classes, my work was take home quizzes, tests, and papers. Easy yes, but not worth the money. "

" Doane doesn't care about its students. They only care about money. Take it from this disgruntled ex-student. "

" Congrats to doane, but whos who should not be used as a criteria, I was selected for that and I had to pay if I wanted to be listed otherwise I wouldn't be noted, I passed on it as I am sure a lot of other people do. So it doesn't take everybody into account "

" We are talking about Doane-Crete here and its undergrad program not graduate program as the rankings were for undergrad programs and not grad schools. So please stop it! Who would go to Wesleyan? Not me! A bunch of .....never mind! And some of us here say UNL, why would I want to be taught by grad assistants and have my home work be done for me by other students? Come on people you know that's what's going on over at UNL. I bet you haven't had Derryl's strategic management class or Cathy Springer's accounting class and by the way, Cathy is the best accounting teacher in the Midwest if not nation! You didn’t even know that Doane economics Dr. Les was featured in Gas hole, a documentary exploring the effects of American dependency on fossil fuels…And if you didn't know, all Doane College grads who applied to med school and law school this year all got accepted.....100% Don't you think that tells something? How about Doane’s Fulbright scholars? Shouldn’t that tell you something! And somebody talked about turnover rates, well, some city boys don’t find Crete ,NE a party place. It is in the middle of nowhere and the kids who leave cannot do the work they are expected to do by their teacher and that’s why they go to UNL , Wesleyan, and other laid back schools!
Successful Doane grads?.... Henry Pratt Fairchild 1900, a distinguished American sociologist, Zenon C.R. Hansen, former chairman and CEO of Mack Trucks, Inc…..John Perry is a philosopher and professor at Stanford University, former VP of marketing at Procter & Gamble was a Doane alum, former CFO at Waste Management is Doane alum, VP of operations at Kenexa, a multi national company is a Doane gad, a famous opera conductor in New York City whose shows always sells out is a Doane grad, Tom Mangelsen, a world wide renowned nature photographer is a Doane alum, . Vrtiska is currently a Diagnostic Radiology Consultant for the Mayo Clinic and an Assistant Professor of Radiology at the Mayo Clinic…and she is a Doane alum! What more do you need to know to understand that DOANE COLLEGE is a wonderful place! Remember, Kaplan/Newsweek College Catalog recently called Doane a "hidden treasure."…so go figure! YAY FOR DOANE! "

" Of hater-aid! "

" Doane is a nice school, but this "rating" system is bogus. As for all your wonderful Doane grads - great. Wesleyan, Hastings, UNL, UNO, UNK, Dana, Chadron, etc. they all have them too. Doane is no more or less special than any other school. By the way - just because you don't get invited doesn't mean they don't party in Crete. Wet campus anyone? Sorry you couldn't get in to NWU, but you really need to let go of the hate. "

" Any educational program you commit to will require you to invest your time, money, mind and heart. You get what you give. UNL, Wesleyan, Doane...whatever. A true student will take advantage of every learning opportunity. Please understand how great a privilege it is to be in a position to enjoy the honor of a college education. Congrats Doane! "

" My spouse is a Doane alum, and raves about the quality of education there. I went to Dear Old Nebraska U, and received a great education (for a fraction of the price). At the end of the day, where we went to college doesn't really matter. Even though we're still fairly early in our careers, our success is due to our smarts and work ethic, not because of something we learned in a 400 level business course.

As one of the other commenters noted, it has more to do with the student's drive, propencity for learning, and natural abilities than upon the campus one learns one. A motivated student can get a top notch education from any number of places - not just those who top these rankings designed to sell magazines. "

" As a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan and a current student of Doane Lincoln, I can agree with the previous comments about the poor quality of education at Doane Lincoln. I am almost finished with one of their Master's programs, and I have only had one teacher who actually had something worthwhile to say. It is nothing more than a diploma mill, but I'm too far in the program to just walk away. At least I'll have my great education from NWU, but nothing more than a piece of paper from Doane. "

" I own a business and have employed graduates of many colleges and universities. Some Doane, some NWU, some UNL. Not every worker was fantastic, not every one was poor. All institutions had their range of quality employees, or not so sparkling ones also. It is evident by many comments that NWU doesn't like Doane, and Doane doesn't like NWU. So what. Rankings are opinions, I have one like every one else, whether is has to do with college rankings or who should be the starting running back at UNL. "

" I think Doane's rating is for the campus at Crete, not the off-compus one in Lincoln. "

" And your undergraduate knowledge and wisdom qualifies you to determine what is or is not worthwhile to say in a Graduate program? What a sense of arrogance. "

" This article is talking about Doane College in Crete - not Lincoln. Sure the Lincoln campus is easy, but that's not what we're talking about here. From what I've heard, Doane Crete is much more challenging and thought provoking than Doane Lincoln. Congrats Doane. "

" Like JT, I have hired grads for over 20 years. When it comes to the local universities, I must admit I have a tendency to scrutinize Doane students, whether in Crete or Lincoln, a little closer based on my own experiences of their academic abilities and how they can transfer to the workplace. They historically have been "meets expectations" type employees when it comes to abilities. This doesn't mean their not "nice" people, and so forth. I do expect more obviously, which I generally get from the NWU, UNL, UNO, Union, etc. students. I'm also aware that some of the schools mentioned have higher admission standards and expected scores than does Doane. Also, I haven't gone to any of the schools mentioned above, so it doesn't matter to me one way or another. "

" Reading all thesecomments about lincoln Doane is scaring me.. Are you really serious of how easy and unchallenging it is? Im suppose to start in January and now Im not sure what to belive , it is true I dont know anyone that has gone or graduated from Doane Lincoln either what got to me was the small classes compared to UNL know Im graduating from SCC with an associates in art in Dec. and finishing last two years at doane an advise anyone? "