Ranking Profiles

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Articles:

• Playing the Rankings Game
• Rankings Methodology Hurts Public Institutions
• What the Rankings Do for 'U.S. News'
• College Rankings Catch On Overseas

Database:
U.S. News Rankings Through the Years

Interactive graphics:

• How to win the game
• Institutional snapshots of 17 years of U.S. News rankings

Audio:

• Hear Chronicle reporters talk about their analysis of the history of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings.
• Listen to excerpts from a Chronicle interview with Robert J. Morse, director of data research for U.S. News.

Ranking profiles:

• Smith College
• Washington U. in St. Louis
• Colorado State U. at Fort Collins
• Whitman College

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Smith College | Washington U. in St. Louis | Colorado State U. at Fort Collins | Whitman College

SMITH COLLEGE

By MARTIN VAN DER WERF

Smith College was in the top 10 of the nation's liberal-arts colleges, or just outside it, almost since the U.S. News rankings began. But for the past two years, it has barely clung to the top 20.

It may fall further, and officials at the women's college say that's OK.

"We made a decision several years ago to de-emphasize SAT scores," says Catherine Rowen, director of institutional research and educational assessment. "We believe we are, and we believe there is ample evidence to show that we are, admitting highly qualified students."

But the Student Selectivity measure in the U.S. News rankings recognizes only SAT or ACT scores, the percentage of freshmen who were in the top 10 percent of their high-school classes, and the college's acceptance rate. The net result: Smith ranked 23rd in 1999 in Student Selectivity among liberal-arts colleges. This year it fell to 41st.

Smith has thumbed its nose at the rankings in other ways.

The rankings give credit to a college for having classes with fewer than 20 students. Among its peers, Smith has one of the highest proportions of such small classes, at 71 percent. But for future years the college has determined that "the correct cap on class size, from a pedagogical perspective, is 25," Ms. Rowen says — even though that change may affect Smith's rank.

Smith has also been trying to reconnect with a number of alumnae for whom it had no current addresses. But there is a downside to finding all those graduates, at least in the rankings, when they don't immediately donate. With a larger pool of alumnae, and without a corresponding increase in gifts, the giving rate by alumnae has fallen to 35 percent in 2007 from 48 percent in 2002.

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WASHINGTON U. IN ST. LOUIS

By MARTIN VAN DER WERF

Money, more money, and a happy coincidence. Those are the factors that propelled Washington University in St. Louis to the upper echelon of the U.S. News rankings. The university garnered $1.5-billion from a fund-raising campaign that wrapped up in 2004. More than $175-million of that went directly to an endowment exclusively for student aid. That endowment now holds about $500-million.

The money has helped the institution recruit one of the most academically elite undergraduate student bodies in the country. To bring them in, the university sometimes gives the most-qualified students a free ride, plus a cost-of-living stipend. The university also pays for round-trip plane tickets to bring the most sought-after prospects to the campus.

"Not many people see St. Louis as a destination city if they are on the coasts," says Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. As the university heaped more attention and merit aid on students beginning in the late 1990s, more began to enroll.

When Mr. Wrighton became chancellor in 1995, Washington University ranked 36th among doctoral-level universities in student selectivity, accepting 69 percent of applicants. For 2007, it ranked sixth in selectivity, and accepted 19 percent of applicants.

"If you can seed the student body with people with excellent credentials, they will compare stories with people who went to different institutions, and we come out pretty well," says Mr. Wrighton.

Then there is the coincidence. The university leaped from 30th to ninth in the category of faculty resources in one year, between 1996 and 1997. It so happens that 1997 was the year that U.S. News adjusted its calculation of faculty salaries to reflect the cost of living. It's a measure that allows affordable St. Louis to outshine its peers on the coasts.

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COLORADO STATE U. AT FORT COLLINS

By ELIZABETH F. FARRELL

Making progress with fewer resources will have to be its own reward for Colorado State University at Fort Collins. Over the last five years, state budget cuts have driven higher-education spending per student down 38 percent, the sharpest drop in the country.

Yet Colorado State has continued its decade-long trend of improvement: The institution's six-year graduation rate has risen to 63 percent from 54 percent, and the percentage of classes with 20 students or fewer has more than doubled, to 35 percent.

Those changes, however, have not led to a rise in rank. Since 2004, Colorado State has dropped to 124 from 112 in U.S. News & World Report's annual list. One culprit is the university's declining selectivity. The acceptance rate is higher than it was five years ago, and only 17 percent of new first-year students are in the top 10 percent of their high-school classes, compared with 25 percent in 2003.

Anthony A. Frank, Colorado State's provost, says his university could reverse that trend by offering more merit scholarships to entice higher-achieving students, but officials have devoted more resources to need-based aid. And despite pleas from the financial-aid office for more merit aid, Mr. Frank says, officials recently chose to allocate an additional $500,000 to improve academic support services for students.

Furthermore, 99 percent of Colorado State's faculty members are full time, a higher percentage than any Ivy League university and the vast majority of institutions that rank higher than Colorado State.

"We could hire more adjunct faculty and create more class sections to drive down expenses," says Mr. Frank. "But is that necessarily an improvement in the educational product? I don't think so."

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WHITMAN COLLEGE

By MARTIN VAN DER WERF

When Thomas E. Cronin, former president of Whitman College, took over in 1993, the college was accepting 87 percent of its applicants. At the time, about 70 percent of incoming students graduated within six years.

"If about one-third of your students are leaving, it tells you something about the quality of your institution," he said.

Mr. Cronin directed the staff to re-examine the file of every student who had transferred or dropped out, and determine if a change in the student's aid package would have helped. In a great many cases, it would have, and the college began readjusting its strategy to offer more merit-based aid.

In the 1980s, the college had awarded student aid strictly according to need, says John W. Bogley, Whitman's vice president for development and college relations. "We were seen as the only college that less-affluent students could afford. We wanted to be seen as a college for higher-achieving students."

The six-year graduation rate is now 86 percent, and the college accepted 49 percent of applicants last year.

With more-qualified students applying, the college is again in a position to offer more need-based aid. The top merit-based scholarship has been frozen for five years at $10,000. Tuition and room and board cost more than $38,000 per year.

The college is also learning to see its rural location, in Walla Walla, Wash., as a strength. A burgeoning local wine industry and nearby mountains and streams for outdoor recreation help. "Williams, Middlebury, and Hamilton never apologized for their locations, and they're in pretty small towns," says Mr. Bogley.