US News, Aetna Foundation Rank Nation's Healthiest Counties; Three in CT Reach Top 100

Three Connecticut counties are among the 100 healthiest in the nation.  Tolland County ranked #44, Middlesex County was #46, and Litchfield County placed #54, in an analysis published by U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation. Two additional Connecticut counties ranked among the top 500:  Fairfield County was #351 and New London County was #411.  Hartford Country, New Haven County, and Windham County were unranked, outside the top 500.

The “Healthiest Communities” analysis is designed as an interactive destination for consumers and policymakers.  Backed by in-depth research and accompanied by news and analysis, the site features comprehensive rankings drawn from an examination of nearly 3,000 counties and county equivalents on 80 metrics across 10 categories, informing residents, health care leaders and officials about local policies and practices that drive better health outcomes for all, the website explains.

The data categories include Population Health, Equity, Education, Housing, Food & Nutrition, Environment, Public Safety, Community Vitality, and Infrastructure.  All of the categories but one, equity, were identified as key considerations in evaluating community health by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics as part of its Measurement Framework for Community Health and Well-Being.  Data were gathered and analyzed by the University of Missouri Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems (CARES).  The overall project was developed by U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation.

Topping the national rankings were Falls Church, Virginia; Douglas County, Colorado; Broomfield County, Colorado; Los Alamos County, New Mexico; and Dukes County, Massachusetts.  Dukes County, the second smallest in Massachusetts, includes Martha’s Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands.

The scores for Connecticut’s counties were Windham 56.6, New Haven 60.2, Hartford 61.6, Fairfield 69.1, New London 67.9, Litchfield 82.0, Middlesex 82.6, and Tolland, 82.9.  The overall state average was 70.4.  The U.S. average was 52.3.  Among neighboring states, the Massachusetts statewide average was 72.8, Rhode Island was 74.8 and New York was 61.7.

“Healthiest Communities evaluates and explores how counties and county equivalents can minimize chronic disease, keep people out of the hospital, provide access to health care and lower costs,” the website explains.  “The Aetna Foundation, the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna, invested in this project as part of its broader effort to improve the health of communities.”

Yale, UConn Back-to-Back in Top 10 Best Value Law Schools in US

The law schools of Yale University and the University of Connecticut both ranked in the top 10 “law schools that pay off,” according to a new national survey of the nation’s law schools.  Yale ranked seventh and UConn eighth in the survey by U.S. News and World Report. The survey determined the 10 best schools where full-time 2014 graduates who borrowed for law school and entered the private sector had the highest salary-to-debt ratio, according to data submitted to U.S. News by 172 schools around the country. Connecticut and Massachusetts each had two law schools ranked among the top ten "best value" schools.

The leading “best value” law schools were University of Texas – Austin, University of Alabama, Boston College, Brigham Young University, University of Wisconsin – Madison and University of Hawaii. Rounding out the top 10 after Yale and UConn are Boston University and UCLA.

The average student debt among UConn Law graduates was $70,129 for 2014 graduates, the lowest in the Northeast and the 15th lowest in the nation, according to the survey. Starting salaries for graduates entering the private sector reached $95,000 in 2014. That gives the law school a 1.4-1 salary-to-debt ratio, tied for eighth place nationwide.

Among Yale Law School graduates, starting salaries for graduates entering the private sector reached $16,000 in 2014. That gives the law school a 1.4-1 salary-to-debt ratio, with average student debt of $117,093.

Yale University has been ranked as the nation’s number one law school by U.S. News.  UConn School of Law ranks 65^th on the U.S. News nationwide list, and is the highest ranked public law school in the Northeast. The relatively low student debt level is a product of what the school describes as “reasonable tuition,” now $27,792 for in-state students, and “robust financial aid packages” for eligible students, according to the university.

UConn indicates that 10 months after graduation, more than 80 percent of the graduates from the Class of 2015 had full-time, long-term jobs for which a law degree was required or preferred, up substantially over the last three years.  At Yale, that percentage is 93 percent, with 41 percent employed at law firms, 39 percent in judicial clerkships, 8 percent in public interest positions (including public defender), 5 percent in government and 4 percent in business and industry.

“Our high value and great employment results are only part of what makes UConn Law School great. Our students and faculty are deeply engaged in the institutions and communities that surround us, as well as the intellectual exploration of a legal education,” Dean Timothy Fisher said. “That, coupled with a supportive atmosphere and energetic student body, make this an exciting place to learn and a transformative chapter in our students’ lives.”

In recent years UConn Law has added several programs that let students realize even more value from their legal educations, according to the school. Three new LL.M. (master of laws) degrees can be combined with a JD to prepare students for careers in energy and environmental law, human rights and social justice or intellectual property and information governance.  The law school has also added, in partnership with the UConn School of Business, a certificate in Corporate and Regulatory Compliance. And the two school are now offering a program to earn both a JD and MBA in three years.

Yale Law students, the university’s website highlights, “are among the most sought after in the nation by employers of all types,” both within and outside of the legal profession.

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Connecticut High Schools Rank #3 in USA

Connecticut has some of the nation’s best high schools according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings.  Overall, the caliber of the state’s high schools made Connecticut the number three state in the nation.  The schools were ranked using state assessments in math, science and English language arts. Maryland was ranked at the top of the list, with nearly 30 percent of it’s schools earning gold or silver medals. California came in second with 27 percent, and Connecticut had 25 percent.

Connecticut’s top ranked high school, the Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy in East Hartford, earned a place in the nation’s top 50 high schools, ranked at #34.

Here are the top 10 high schools in Connecticut, according to the list:

1. Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy in East Hartford
2. Amistad Academy in New Haven
3. Academy of Aerospace and Engineering in Hartford
4. Conard High School in West Hartford
5. Weston High School in Weston
6. Simsbury High School in Simsbury
7. Staples High School in Westport
8. Darien High School in Darien
9. Wilton High School in Wilton
10. Farmington High School in Farmington

In the 2015 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings, Connecticut has 14 gold medal schools, 35 silver medal schools and nine bronze medal schools. One of the bronze medal winners, Sports & Med Science, is in Hartford.

On the national list, Connecticut’s second ranked high school, the Amistad Academy in New Haven, was ranked #145.  The Academy of Aerospace and Engineering in Hartford was ranked #171 in the nation.  West Hartford’s Conard High School was ranked #203, Weston High School was #264 and Simsbury High School was ranked #300 in the nation.

Just outside the top 10 high schools in the state, Ridgefield High School was #11, Hall High School in West Hartford was #12, Joel Barlow High School in Redding was #13 and Greenwich High School was #14.

To produce the 2015 Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News & World Report teamed with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm.  The magazine used a  three-step process to determined the Best High Schools. The first two steps was designed to ensure that the schools serve all of their students well, using their performance on the math and reading parts of their state proficiency tests as the benchmarks. For those schools that made it past the first two steps, a third step assessed the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work, the magazine explained.

Charter Oak State College Among Top 20 Online Bachelors Programs in Student Engagement; Three CT Colleges Reach Top 100 Online

Student engagement and on-line courses may seem incompatible, but Connecticut's Charter Oak State College is among the best in the nation at bringing those two concepts together effectively.  Charter Oak  ranked at #90 in the nation in the newly published U.S. News & World Report ranking of the top online bachelors programs in the country, and at #17 in student engagement.  In other categories, the online institution, based in New Britain, ranked #187 in faculty credentials and training, and #139 in student services and technology. Charter Oak State College is Connecticut's public online college offering bachelor's and associate degree completion programs for adults. The college was established in 1973, and offers degree completion programs in a number of high-demand fields including business, health care, public safety, information systems and cyber security. U.S. News indicates that all of the online classes are recorded and archived so students can access lecture material at their own convenience.

The magazine ranked a total of 219 institutions offering online programs, with scores ranging from 100 (Pennsylvania State University-World Campus) to 44 (University of Wisconsin-River Falls).  Charter Oak’s score was 69. U.S. News evaluated several factors to rank the best online bachelor’s degree programs, including graduation rates, faculty credentials and support services available remotely.  Nearly 85 additional schools were analyzed but did not reach thebachelor's program rankings. 

U.S. News indicates that the new student retention rate in 2014 at Charter Oak was 82 percent, and that 63 percent of students graduate within six years.  Total enrollment is 1,898, according to the publication.

In offering the rankings of on-line programs, U.S. News noted that many schools are enriching their online degree programs ​as student interest in distance education  continues to increase.

Among private institutions in Connecticut, the University of Bridgeport ranked at #68 overall, spurred by faculty credentials and training, which ranked at #19.  Student engagement ranked at #94, and student services and technology ranked at #132.  The most popular online major, according to U.S. News, is dental hygiene and related health professions.  UB’s overall score was 74.  In addition, UB has the #13 ranked online graduate Information Technology program and #48 best online graduate engineering program.

Sacred Heart University ranked at #87 among on-line bachelors programs.  The category breakdowns for Sacred Heart were: #27 in student services and technology, #44 in faculty credentials and training, and #52 in student engagement.  Sacred Heart’s overall score was 70.  The institution also ranked #70 among best on-line graduate nursing programs.

Enrollment for each of the institutions on-line programs is predominantly female: 64 percent at Charter Oak, 84 percent at University of Bridgeport and 93 percent at Sacred Heart.

U.S. News assessed schools based on four general, weighted, categories:

• Student engagement (40 percent): Quality bachelor's degree programs promote participation in courses, allowing students opportunities to readily interact with their instructors and classmates, as is possible in a campus-based setting. In turn, instructors not only are accessible and responsive, but they also are tasked with helping to create an experience rewarding enough that students stay enrolled and complete their degrees in a reasonable amount of time.
• Faculty credentials and training (20 percent): Strong online programs employ instructors with academic credentials that mirror those of instructors for campus-based programs, and they have the resources to train these instructors on how to teach distance learners.
• Student services and technology (20 percent): Programs that incorporate diverse online learning technologies allow greater flexibility for students to take classes from a distance. Outside of classes, strong support structures provide learning assistance, career guidance and financial aid resources commensurate with quality campus-based programs.
• Peer reputation (20 percent): A survey of high-ranking academic officials helps account for intangible factors affecting program quality that are not captured by statistics. Also, degrees from programs that are well respected by academics may be held in higher regard among employers.

The reliability of the U.S. News rankings continue to be criticized by many in the higher education field for a variety of reasons, ranging from the self-reporting of institutions to the assessment criteria used.

Yale-New Haven is Connecticut's Only Hospital with Nationally Ranked Medical Specialties

Yale-New Haven Hospital is Connecticut’s best-performing hospital according to the annual list released this week by U.S. News & World Report, which analyzed hospitals across the nation.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is ranked nationally in 10 adult and 5 pediatric specialties. It was also ranked as high-performing in 3 adult specialties, according to the magazine’s analysis.  It placed 6th in the country in diabetes and endocrinology, 11th in psychiatry, fourteenth in gynecology and #18 in gastroenterology.  It was the only hospital out of the eleven ranked in Connecticut to be nationally ranked in any specialty category.

Yale-New Haven performed 15,340 annual inpatient and 22,559 outpatient surgeries, and ts emergency room had 137,911 visits last year. Yale-New Haven Hospital covers 1.9 million square feet, employs more than 7,000, and is affiliated with 3,600 physicians and 600 resident physicians practicing over 100 medical specialties, U.S. News reported.  In pediatric specialties, Yale-New Haven ranked #4 nationally in diabetes and endocrinology.

Hartford Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center took second and third place, respectively in Connecticut, with St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport ranked #4 in the state, followed by Middlesex Hospital at #5, Norwalk Hospital ranked sixth, Danbury Hospital and Waterbury Hospital, tied at #7, Bridgeport Hospital and Lawrence and Memorial Hospital tied at #9, and Stamford Hospital ranked eleventh.

Hartford Hospital, ranked#1 in Greater Hartford, “performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals” in 9 adult specialties, U.S. News reported.  The hospital had 36,841 admissions in the latest year for which data are available. It performed 11,828 annual inpatient and 20,955 outpatient surgeries and had 95,567 emergency room visits.

At #3 statewide, Saint Francis “performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals” in 8 adult specialties. The hospital had 29,113 admissions, performed 9,178 annual inpatient and 10,482 outpatient surgeries and its emergency room had 71,446 visits.

St. Vincent’s, top-rated in Bridgeport and Western Connecticut, “performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals in 6 adult specialties. The hospital had 21,019 admissions, performed 4,521 annual inpatient and 5,138 outpatient surgeries and its emergency room had 74,177 visits.

Among 87 children’s hospitals across the nation that made the rankings in at least one specialty, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford was nationally ranked in six pediatric specialties. It is a 166-bed children's general facility with 6,096 admissions in the most recent year reported, performed 2,036 annual inpatient and 8,062 outpatient surgeries. Its emergency room had 53,488 visits.  Connecticut Children’s is national ranked at #25 in pediatric urology, #35 in diabetes and endocrinology and #39 in pulmonology.

Darien, West Hartford Top List of Leading High Schools in CT

As high schools throughout the state conduct graduation ceremonies, it is an opportune time to review the U.S. News Best High Schools 2013 rankings. Connecticut has 11 gold medal schools, 24 silver medal schools and four bronze medal schools, according to the latest annual survey of 21,035 public high schools across the country.  A total of 39 Connecticut schools made the magazine’s ranking. The top 10:

1.       Darien High School

2.       Conard High School

3.       Weston High School

4.       Ridgefield High School

5.       Farmington High School

6.       Wilton High School

7.       Staples High School

8.       William H. Hall High School

9.       Joel Barlow High School

10.   Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy

Among Connecticut high schools, the top ranked Darien High School placed at #217 nationally, followed by West Hartford’s Conard High School at #218.  

The smallest student-teacher ratio was at East Granby High School, at 10:1.  More than two dozen schools had an 11:1 student – teacher ratio, including Putnam HS, Windsor HS, Housatonic Valley Regional HS, James Hillhouse HS in New Haven, East Windsor HS and Rockville HS.

An interactive database allows visitors to rank Connecticut’s high schools by college readiness, math and reading proficiency.  The top reading proficiency was at Fairfield Ludlowe HS in Farifield, the top math proficiency at Pomeraug Regional High School in Southbury, and the top college readiness was at Masuk High School, in Monroe.