Overview
By comparing ourselves to a group of referent institutions, we can identify areas of distinctiveness and benchmark our performance over time. In 2015, the President’s Advisory Team identified 22 private institutions to serve, where possible, as a comparative group in the assessment of the strategic plan’s metrics. The group is aspirational by design, with 17 of the 22 schools ranking higher than Marquette in the U.S. News and World Report Best National Universities ranking.
For many of the strategic plan’s metrics, institution-level data are available for each of the 22 referent schools. Often, the availability of comparison data lags by a year or more. For some metrics, comparison data cannot be disaggregated by school; thus, only group comparison statistics are shown. For internally-tracked metrics, although comparative data are not available, the data will be tracked over time.
In 2022 a new peer/aspirant group was developed by the Beyond Boundaries Steering Committee.
Marquette | BC | BU | Baylor | Brandeis | Dayton | DePaul | Denver | Emory | Fordham | GU | GWU | Lehigh | Loyola Chi | Miami | ND | Northeastern | SLU | SMU | Syracuse | Tufts | Tulane | Wake
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Religious affiliation: Catholic, Jesuit
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 11,745
Baylor University
Waco, TX
Religious affiliation: Baptist
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 16,263
Boston College (BC)
Chestnut Hill, MA
Religious affiliation: Catholic, Jesuit
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 14,317
Boston University (BU)
Boston, MA
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 32,112
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 5,945
University of Dayton
Dayton, OH
Religious affiliation: Catholic
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 23,799
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Religious affiliation: Catholic
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 23,799
University of Denver
Denver, CO
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 11,809
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Religious affiliation: Methodist
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 14,769
Fordham University
Bronx, NY
Religious affiliation: Catholic, Jesuit
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 15,231
Georgetown University (GU)
Washington, DC
Religious affiliation: Catholic, Jesuit
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 17,858
George Washington University (GWU)
Washington, DC
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 25,613
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 7,119
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL
Religious affiliation: Catholic, Jesuit
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 15,902
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 16,674
University of Notre Dame (ND)
Notre Dame, IN
Religious affiliation: Catholic
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 12,179
Northeastern University
Boston, MA
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 19,798
St. Louis University (SLU)
Saint Louis, MO
Religious affiliation: Catholic, Jesuit
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 17,052
Southern Methodist University (SMU)
Dallas, TX
Religious affiliation: Methodist
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 11,272
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 21,492
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 10,907
Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, LA
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 12,603
Wake Forest University
Winston Salem, NC
Religious affiliation: none
Fall 2014 student enrollment: 7,788