Ranking a Well-Rounded College Education

It’s the season for rankings. U.S. News and World Report recently released its annual college ranking, which uses traditional measures—e.g. retention, prestige (peer ranking), resources, alumni giving, etc.—to evaluate the nation’s colleges and universities. Likewise, The Washington Monthly released a ranking of liberal arts colleges. Interestingly, The Washington Monthly’s measures are slightly different. The magazine evaluates institutions based on their contribution to the public good, including an institution’s ability to recruit and graduate low-income students (social mobility), capability of producing cutting-edge research and future Ph.D.’s (research), and encouraging students to give back to the country in some meaningful way (service). For more specific details on their methodology, see their Web site.

Using the measures of social mobility, research, and service, Morehouse College, a historically black college, is ranked number one among liberal arts colleges. Spelman College is also in the top 10. Out of the 100 colleges ranked, eight are Black colleges. In the U.S. News rankings, only one Black colleges ranks in the top 100 liberal arts colleges—Spelman College. The difference in the placement of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU’s) in these two rankings is based on the measures used, of course. However, The Washington Monthly’s rankings capture the strengths of HBCU’s by considering social mobility and service, in particular. HBCU’s tend to (not always) enroll students who come from low-income families and many of these students are the first in their families to attend college. The HBCU’s that ranked in The Washington Monthly’s top 100 enroll these students and graduate them at a rate to be emulated by all colleges and universities.

Many HBCU’s are role models for increasing social mobility among African-Americans and other students. Likewise, HBCU’s are more likely to produce students who work in nonprofit organizations, volunteer in their communities, and give back to society. HBCUs work hard to instill an ethos of community support in students. Of note, in a recent report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the three historically black medical schools in the country were ranked the top three institutions in terms of social mission to the community. These institutions produce a disproportionate number of doctors who focus on primary care and practice in urban and rural communities in which minority doctors are sorely needed.

If parents want a well-rounded liberal arts education that focuses on giving back to society in meaningful ways for their children (and the children want that to), they might do well to consult The Washington Monthly’s ranking of colleges. Perhaps we should all consider these measures when assessing colleges as increasing social mobility and giving back to the community seem like noble attributes for any institution.