After a tumultuous year, Temple ranks in top 100 in revamped U.S. News rankings. Here’s a closer look.

Temple University for the first time broke the top 100 list for national universities under revamped U.S. News & World Report rankings released Monday.

The school tied for 89th place, up from 121 last year, and the boost comes following a tumultuous year for the Philadelphia university, one that saw its president resign, a six-week graduate student worker strike, and the shooting death of an on-duty university police officer.

It was one of the largest jumps among local universities in that category.

The large swings in part can be attributed to major changes in the criteria the news magazine uses to rank schools, which the magazine called “the most significant methodological change in the rankings’ history.” It follows mounting criticism of the rankings by some colleges and universities, which have stopped participating, though the news magazine has continued to rank them.

“We’re really gratified, thrilled,” said JoAnne A. Epps, acting president of Temple. “It is thrilling because it’s not something we pursued. It is gratifying because it really reflects U.S. News’ change in methodology that emphasizes and rewards what Temple has been devoted to for years.”

Here’s a closer look at what U.S. News changed, how other local schools ranked, and what Temple has to say about its rise in the national university category. To see how local colleges in other categories fared, check out the U.S. News site.

This year’s rankings put increased importance on outcomes — how well schools do at graduating students from varying backgrounds, including first-generation college students, with “manageable debt and post-graduate success,” U.S. News notes. More than 50% of a school’s ranking relates to those measures.

“The significant changes in this year’s methodology are part of the ongoing evolution to make sure our rankings capture what is most important for students as they compare colleges and select the school that is right for them,” Eric Gertler, executive chairman and CEO of U.S. News, said in a statement.

» READ MORE: At Temple University, enrollment drop was an unintended but welcome consequence

Five factors were removed from the rankings: Class size, faculty with terminal degrees, alumni giving, high school class standing, and the proportion of graduates who borrow federal loans.

Gwynedd Mercy University rose 71 places, to 260 on the list of over 400 schools. It was the largest jump of any university in the region and the sixth-largest jump nationally.

West Chester University, which finished 209, went up 40 places.

Rutgers-New Brunswick placed 40th, tied with the University of Washington and Tufts University. That’s up 15 spots and the first time it broke the top 40, according to U.S. News, which said Rutgers’ benefited from the rankings’ increased emphasis on how well schools did enrolling and graduating students from economically diverse backgrounds.

» READ MORE: Penn’s law and medical schools climb in U.S. News rankings, despite decisions to withdraw from them

Locally, Rutgers-Camden advanced 29 spots to 98. Nearby Rowan University, also in New Jersey, advanced 30 spots to 163.

Pennsylvania State University jumped 17 spots, to 60. Meanwhile, the University of Delaware went up 13 to 76, and Stockton University rose 22 spots to 159.

Princeton topped the list again, while the University of Pennsylvania finished sixth, up one spot from last year.

Drexel increased seven spots to 98th while La Salle University remained at 201.

Villanova finished 67th, down 16 spots from last year.

“This year’s rankings show just how volatile rankings can be,” the university said in a statement. “We believe that the Villanova experience is so much more than one number. There are numerous other indicators — from placement rates and starting salary to long-term career success — that illustrate the value and academic excellence of a Villanova education.”

Thomas Jefferson University fell 15 spots to 142. Immaculata University was down 31 spots to 280, and Widener University was down nine spots to 227.

U.S. News rankings in recent years have become contentious, as some schools have been accused of submitting false data and others have come to question the worth and accuracy of the process.

Some medical and law schools, including those at Penn, have withdrawn from the rankings, citing flawed methodology. Columbia, Colorado College, and Bard College, according to the New York Times, also withdrew from the undergraduate rankings earlier this year.

U.S. News has defended its rankings, at the same time making adjustments.

The rankings also have been highlighted in criminal probes and lawsuits. Last year, Moshe Porat, the former dean of Temple’s business school, was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to lie to boost the school’s ranking. That rankings scandal at Temple spawned a host of reforms, including a data verification unit that is tasked with thoroughly vetting information before it is released. And Rutgers University’s business school in lawsuits last year was accused of submitting false statistics to U.S. News, allegations it has denied.

Despite the controversy, college officials recognize that many families still turn to the rankings for information when choosing a school.

Gregory N. Mandel, Temple’s provost, attributed Temple’s new spot to U.S. News’ increased focus on outcomes, including graduation rates and social mobility. The university also benefited from the magazine’s look at faculty publications and citations, highlighting the strength of the teaching staff, he said.

“All of those outcome measures are measures in which we tend to do very well,” he said. “So the increase in the rankings is due to them recognizing strengths that Temple has around being an opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds to get an exceptional education.”

In particular, Temple placed fifth of the top 100 universities in the graduation rate performance category, which looks at how much better students from certain backgrounds do than expected, Mandel said. Factors that the magazine considered included spending per student, the proportion of undergraduates receiving federal Pell grants geared toward lower-income students, and first-year students’ standardized test scores and high school class rank, as well as the proportion of undergraduates who are first-generation students.

“That is a huge point of pride because that is what we try to do,” Mandel said, “create opportunity for students of promise.”

He added that Temple’s incoming class is the most racially and ethnically diverse in the school’s history.

Temple’s Fly in Four program that provides students with academic counseling, guaranteed course offerings, and in some cases financial aid to help them graduate in four years also has helped the school’s ranking, Mandel and Epps said. The university recently admitted its 10th cohort to the program, Epps said.

U.S. News’ decision to drop alumni giving from consideration also helped Temple, they said.

“Public universities tend to have lower alumni participation rates than private universities,” Mandel said.

There are no plans to promote the rankings on billboards, Temple said.

Mandel said he encourages students and families to fully understand rankings.

“Rankings are only measuring what they decided to measure,” he said. “Some of those factors are going to be really important for certain students and families and others less so.”

So Temple, too, will be thoughtful about how it chooses to use the rankings, he said.

Epps said she understands that some audiences, such as international students, are heavily influenced by rankings, given how far away they are from the campus.

“They have a place and we respect that,” she said.

So while keeping it secret or refusing to talk about it wouldn’t be the right approach, “we’re going to have to think carefully about how to use this information.”