A new rating to answer the question of what University is the best for tennis athletes.
Tennis student-athletes face as teenagers, one of the most important decisions in their life: which university to choose. Making this decision, the first major one in their life will affect their future.
For the past 25 years, University Sports Program (USP) has guided in their search and decision. For the first time, USP has published a ranking, crunching numbers into an Index that includes 372 programs, to answer the question of what University is the best for tennis athletes.
USP data team used the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) as a base statistic, adding other important and publicly available data to rate the Universities for both female and male student tennis athletes.
Each university in the ranking is rated based on four important parameters with clear data. The already mentioned UTR, separating programs in female and male, Forbes Top Colleges Ranking, College Niche Grading, and College Student Admission Rate.
The index puts value into each category according to how important they should be to consider. Most value is given to Forbes Ranking, followed by UTR, Admission Rate and College Niche.
Women
#1 Stanford (USP Index: 88.57)
Stanford the reigning NCAA champion is a clear number one after having the highest UTR average with 11.67, being ranked #2 by Forbes, a perfect College Niche grade and the lowest admission rate.
#10 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (USP Index: 85.79)
The combination of Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Scripps College, all located in Claremont, California have turned into a perennial powerhouse in NCAA D3 tennis. Currently the NCAA III national champions, the Athenas can rival any D1 program when compared in the decision process for tennis student-athletes, ranked #11 by Forbes, with a UTR close to 10, and only accepting 9% of applicants.
#11 Rice University (USP Index: 85.72)
The site for the past two years of a USP Showcase in the summer, Rice University comes in at number 11 due to the competitive tennis program, with a UTR average of 10.83, the 22nd highest ranked Forbes institution, a perfect College Niche and only accepting 15% of applicants.
Men
#3 Duke (USP Index: 89.96)
While many consider the recent results of the Duke Men’s tennis program underperforming, there is no doubt that they keep reeling in top recruits due to the high standards they maintain. Ranked as the eight best School by Forbes ranking, with a UTR average of 13.67, a perfect College Niche grade and only 11% of admission rate, the USP index had them as the third highest rated tennis program in the country.
#11 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USP Index: 88.42)
A premier academic institution, MIT has been for years one of the top NCAA III tennis programs. Ranked by Forbes as the fifth best school, a perfect college niche, an acceptance rate of less than 10% and a UTR average of 11.83, MIT barely missed the top ten.
#36 Wake Forest University (USP Index: 85.24)
Surprisingly, the NCAA I champion comes in outside of the top 25 due to a 30% acceptance rate and is ranked #60 by Forbes. Wake Forest had the highest UTR average of all teams at 14.17 and a perfect College Niche grade.
You can find the complete list of schools with their rating in here