Yes, we're still on our total eclipse trip, but that was two weeks ago. Since then, our Azamara Journey found its way to Montreal, and we are enjoying what this city has to offer. I'll report on our city tour we took yesterday, tomorrow. For today, this is Week Zero of NCAA football, and as Hawaii plays Stanford today, thought I'd compare how these two universities compare.
I went to Stanford, and graduated in 1962 in chemical engineering. Read my posting of 2June2026, which describes my academic life. Even though I was born and grew up in Honolulu, I never took a course at the University of Hawaii. However, after I graduated from LSU with a PhD in biochemical engineering, I returned home, and now have had had an office on the main Manoa Campus for just about exactly 54 years, from August of 1972 to 2026. As Hawaii plays football at Stanford today, I thus am linking this game to what is described in the title above.
On 25August2026, Time magazine released it's report on America's Best Colleges of 2026-2027.
- The publication began with:
As jobs have become more technological, job markets have become more competitive, and the costs of tuition have risen, college students are increasingly considering the ROI of their education, or how efficiently it can be used to acquire a high-paying job post-grad. “We need to be more outcome-oriented, more career-oriented when we think about what we're recommending for students in higher ed,” says John Friedman, a professor of economics and international and public affairs at Brown University. “There are a lot of people who really do want to get career advancement, to get economic value out of the time and money they're spending in college, and we should help them do that.”
To highlight U.S. institutions that provide the best value for their students, TIME partnered with data research firm Statista on the inaugural edition of America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027, ranking the colleges that excel at student outcomes, learning environment, and attractiveness to students.
The search for high ROI education has led many U.S. college students to pursue STEM careers. According to a 2026 report from the National Science Foundation, the STEM workforce grew by 26% between 2013 and 2023 compared to the non-STEM workforce, which grew 9%—and STEM jobs are projected to continue growing at a faster rate than non-STEM jobs for the next decade or so. From 2021 to 2023, higher-education degrees awarded particularly in science and engineering reached record highs, and the U.S. was the most popular post-secondary STEM education destination for international students.
So this ranking values the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
- # 1 Stanford
- # 2 MIT
- # 3 Harvey Mudd (only has 900 students, all with STEM majors)
- # 4 Princeton
- # 5 Michigan, Ann-Arbor
- # 6 CalTech
- # 10 Harvard
- # 11 Yale
- # 12 Babson
- # 15 Cal-Berkeley
- # 20 Georgetown
- # 40 Duke
- #100 Wake Forest
- #170 LSU
- #200 Loyola Maryount
- #300 Maryville University of Saint Louis
- #400 Eastern Illinois University
- #500 Robert Morris
I've been at the University of Hawaii for 54 years. They did not even make the top 500? Why? According Google AI:
While TIME and Statista's new ranking evaluates 500 institutions based on student outcomes, learning environment, and attractiveness using federal data, no major Hawaii universities were placed in the publicized top tier or general public excerpts of this specific inaugural index. Instead, local prominence is typically led by the University of Hawaii at Manoa in national and global assessments like U.S. News & World Report (where it ranks #110 nationally among 4-year institutions). [1, 2, 3, 4]
So to personally summarize, my three alma maters are Stanford at #1, LSU at 170 and the University of Hawaii at worse than 500. Well, more accurately, #110 according to the U.S. News and World Report, a more prestigious rating organization. They've been annually doing this for 43 years. Says Google AI:
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa ranks No. 110 nationally in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities rankings. [1]
- National Rank: No. 110 out of more than 2,600 four-year institutions (Top 4.3% nationally).
- Global Rank: No. 482 out of more than 25,000 universities worldwide (Top 2% internationally).
Switching now to the second topic of the day, College Football News ranked the top ten bowl games of last year, and:
- #1 Allstate Sugar Bowl (CFP quarterfinal game).
- Georgia was favored by 6.5 points.
- Ole Miss 39, Georgia 34.
#2 Sheraton (hey, I'm staying at a Montreal Sheraton Hotel) Hawaii Bowl.- Cal favored by 3 points.
- Hawaii 35, Cal 31.
- Cal jumped to a 21-0 lead.
- With 2 minutes left, Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sapapolutele (from Hawaii) ran for a touchdown. Cal 31, Hawaii 28.
- In the final seconds, Hawaii QB Micah Alejado's leg cramped up and he went out with ball on Cal's 22.
- Backup Luke Weaver passed to Nick Cenacle for the scoring grab.
- Weaver transferred to San Jose State.
Week Zero of NCAA football began on Thursday:
- August 27, Thursday: A few minor games, all on ESPN or ESPN+.
- August 28, Friday: Four minor games, all on ESPN or ESPN+.
- August 29, Saturday: 37 games.
- From Dublin, Ireland, at non EDT: TCU vs North Carolina, ESPN.
- Hawaii at Stanford at 7PM EDT, ACC Network.
- September 4, Friday: Miami (Fla) at Stanford, 9PM EDT, Fox
- September 5, Saturday.
- Boise State at #2 Oregon, 3:30PM, ESPN.
- Clemson at #11 LSU, 7:30PM, ABC.
- UNLV at Hawaii, 10PM, CW Network.
- UCLA at Cal, 10:30PM, ESPN
- September 6, Sunday.
- Washington State at #17 Washington, 4PM, NBC
- #4 Notre Dame at Wisconsin, 7:30PM, NBC.
- #9 Ole Miss vs #24 Louisville in Nashville, Tennessee, 7:30PM, ABC.
- September 7, Monday: #19 SMU at Florida State, 7:30PM, ESPN.
Finally, the NFL season kicks-off on Wednesday, September 9 with the New England Patriots facing the Seattle Seahawks at 7PM ET on NBC and Peacock. I already forgot that they played in the past Super Bowl. Here is an NBC News summary of what to expect.
Tomorrow, our bus tour of Montreal:
-
Comments
Post a Comment