Which U.S. Colleges and Universities Graduate With Honors in Social Media?

Engagement Labs Identifies the Top Performing U.S. Higher Education Institutions on Facebook and Twitter


TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - Jun 17, 2015) - Technology and data company, Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL), creator of eValue Analytics™ and the eValue™ score, today released data rankings on the top U.S. universities and colleges on Facebook and Twitter.

Most students entering their first year of college this fall have grown up during the social media age. Understanding today's generation, institutions have adapted and learned to embrace the use of social media. According to a study from Dartmouth University, 100% of universities in the U.S. are using some form of social media. There has not been any other industry that can claim this level of adoption.

Using these social media networks, colleges and universities have a unique opportunity to communicate and interact with prospective and current students, alumni and even parents. Engagement Labs ranked the top performing U.S. colleges and universities based on their social media performance on Facebook and Twitter. 

According to eValue data, the top 50 universities and colleges* on social media are:

         
Ranking     Facebook     Twitter
1   Texas A&M University   University of Wisconsin-Madison
2   Washington State University   University of Florida
3   Cornell University   Georgia Tech
4   Baylor University   Vanderbilt University
5   University of California-Berkeley   University of Virginia
6   Pennsylvania State University   University of Missouri
7   The University of Texas at Austin   Texas A&M University
8   University of Florida   Baylor University
9   University of Wisconsin-Madison   University of Illinois
10   Virginia Tech   University of Notre Dame
11   University of Southern California   North Carolina State University
12   University of Colorado Boulder   University of Texas-Austin
13   Indiana University   University of Arizona
14   The University of Oklahoma   Michigan State University
15   Georgia Institute of Technology   Boston College
16   Wake Forest University   University of Michigan
17   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign   University of Southern California
18   North Carolina State University   Duke University
19   West Virginia University   Virginia Tech
20   Mississippi State University   Pennsylvania State University
21   University of Phoenix   University of Utah
22   Texas Christian University   Indiana University
23   University of Pennsylvania   Wake Forest University
24   Texas Tech University   University of Tennessee-Knoxville
25   University of Michigan   University of Washington
26   Boston College   University of Iowa
27   Dartmouth College   Colorado University-Boulder
28   Kansas State University   University of Pennsylvania
29   Vanderbilt University   Stanford University
30   Brown University   Washington State University
31   Miami University   University of Kansas
32   Yale University   Harvard University
33   California State University-Los Angeles   Louisiana State University
34   Duke University   University of California Berkeley
35   University of Pittsburgh   University of Nebraska-Lincoln
36   Syracuse University   Florida State University
37   University of Nebraska-Lincoln   University of Kentucky
38   Arizona State University   Princeton University
39   University of Oregon   University of Iowa
40   Capella University   Yale University
41   DeVry University   Ohio State
42   Rutgers University   West Virginia University
43   Strayer University   Syracuse University
44   University of Mississippi   Texas Christian University
45   University of Maryland   Northwestern University
46   Berkeley College   Arizona State University
47   The University of Kansas   Columbia University
48   University of South Carolina   University of Oregon
49   Kaplan College   Iowa State University
50   Stanford University   University of Kentucky
         

"Social media plays a critical role in both recruitment and retention for universities and colleges. These institutions are realizing that their current and prospective students are actively using social platforms to communicate and stay informed," said Bryan Segal, CEO of Engagement Labs. "Not only are institutions using these networks to promote their school but they are also posting content about upcoming or past events and sharing photos and videos. Additionally, parents of these students are following institutions' social platforms to stay informed of recent news and events."

If executed correctly, social media can be the most effective point of contact for students, especially those looking to get answers in a hurry. For example, University of Wisconsin-Madison was ranked number one on Twitter with an eValue score of 82.89 out of 100. They had a high Responsiveness score and high Average Response Time score which is imperative for universities using social media as a channel to interact and communicate with their student body.

Texas A&M University, which describes itself as a leader in social media, lives up to its claim by ranking number one on Facebook, with an eValue score of 84.74. The University is posting content that is prompting high engagement and interaction with its followers and thrives on highlighting student, alumni and sports team achievements. They also had the second highest Engagement subscore of 92.35, just behind Washington State, which took the number two spot on Facebook.

"When looking at the total number of Facebook fans versus Twitter fans, overall Facebook had three times the amount of total followers than Twitter. However, when looking at the Responsiveness scores, institutions are much more responsive on Twitter. The mix of reach and responsiveness delivers very meaningful results that allow these institutions to maximize impact and return on investment with their social channels," noted Segal.

*Methodology: The colleges and universities examined included those categorized as Ivy League, for-profit, and those within the following NCAA conferences: the Big Ten, the Big 12, the ACC, the Pac-12, and the SEC.

About Engagement Labs
Engagement Labs' eValue™ Score is the global benchmark for social media scoring. eValue Analytics Pro, an enterprise-grade social media analytics platform, scores brands between 0-100. eValue measures brands' social media and digital marketing efforts. It's composed of a series of metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), including Engagement, Responsiveness and Impact, which is benchmarked against 100,000+ handpicked and verified brands.

The eValue score is composed of Engagement, Impact and Responsiveness metrics. Engagement is the level of interaction content receives on a specific social network, Impact is the unique reach content receives on a specific social network, and Responsiveness measures how much, how fast and how well a brand responds to actual conversations amongst its users.

Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) offers intelligent social data, analytics and insights for organizations that are actively engaging on social networks. Offered as a SaaS or through an API, the eValue™ analytics platform allows brands to measure and maximize the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns, as well as measure that of their competitors across major social networks Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Engagement Labs maintains offices in Montreal, Toronto, Paris and New York. www.engagementlabs.com / www.evaluesuite.com

Contact Information:

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Top 50 U.S. Colleges and Universities on Facebook and Twitter