Friday, September 13, 2002

Princeton Again Tops 'U.S. News' Rankings By JEFFREY R. YOUNG For the third straight year, Princeton University has landed the top spot in the college rankings compiled by U.S. News & World Report. Harvard and Yale Universities tied for second in this year's tally, which was reported Thursday on the magazine's Web site. Little changed this year in the top 10 compared to last year. Five institutions tied for fourth place this year: California Institute of Technology, Duke University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Dartmouth College was ninth, followed by Columbia University and Northwestern University, which tied for 10th place. U.S. News's rankings, which are released each year with the magazine's annual college issue and in the book America's Best Colleges, cause anxiety among many college officials, and the rankings have drawn criticism for leaving out key qualities about institutions. But a new national study by a research company says that the rankings, and rankings compiled by other groups, play little role in high-school students' decisions about where to attend college. The magazine did not change its ranking methods this year. But a new feature might pique the interest of college officials. For the first time, the magazine collected data based on the National Survey of Student Engagement, a well-regarded study of student behavior. Leaders of that survey -- often called "Nessie" after its abbreviation, NSSE -- do not release institution-by-institution data to the public. This year, U.S. News does provide a breakdown of NSSE data for 100 colleges and universities. The magazine collected the information directly from those institutions, using NSSE's questions, said Bob Morse, director of data research for the magazine. "We believe it is important to study engagement, and this is one of the most accepted ways of measuring student engagement," Mr. Morse said. Meanwhile, a new study by the Art & Science Group, a research company in Baltimore, found that only about 20 percent of students who planned to enroll at four-year colleges looked at any college rankings, and that only a small fraction of those considered those rankings in choosing an institution. "U.S. News rankings don't make nearly as much difference as many educators believe," said Rick Hesel, an official of the research group. "None of the rankings are really given a lot of attention by a large number of students." Mr. Morse, who helped compile the magazine's rankings, said he was not surprised by the survey's findings. "We believe that it is not the No. 1 factor in admission decisions," said Mr. Morse, though he said the magazine's rankings do play a role in many students' decisions. "Whereas many admissions deans, if we look at what they say literally, will say that it is." "We have never claimed it rules the roost," he added. Background article from The Chronicle: Princeton Claims Top Spot in 'U.S. News' Rankings (09/07/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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