In 2013, UConn was 19th among public schools. This ranking was their second highest ever. In 2017, they were 18th among public schools, their highest ever. They haven’t been out of the top 25 since 2011 (they were 27th this year).
From 2000-2018, the trend was up. Last 4-5 years we’ve seen a reverse.
So to your point, the brand is extremely strong. We have higher standards for the school now, and we should expect them to be moving up rather than down, even if the brand can sell itself
Another problem is the “brand” could go away if they keep trending down, no one is going to be saying UConn is a top school if there are 50 public schools ranked ahead of them, for example. Just as it was known as a party school for a long time before recently.
Again, super unlikely and they’ll get things back on the upward trend if they hire a solid new president with some longevity. But, they have to figure that out.