September 13, 2007

2 New Rankings of Colleges Are on the Way From 'U.S. News'

U.S. News & World Report is going list crazy.

The magazine’s editor, Brian Kelly, told The Numbers Guy, a blog sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, that U.S. News plans to start two new rankings of colleges: one of historically black colleges and universities, and the other of highly ranked colleges that are still relatively easy to get into.

Those lists will follow the magazine’s controversial annual rankings of undergraduate programs, and less contentious rankings of graduate schools.

The No. 3 news magazine is becoming increasingly dependent on such lists. Mr. Kelly says that if it made sense to publish 16 rankings a year, “we’d do 16 … It’s a question of getting good data that’s useful for consumers.” —Martin Van Der Werf

Comments

1. It won’t make any difference how many rankings they do. As long as they are based on opinions instead of data, they’ll be useless.

   — C. Aaron McNeece    Sep 14, 07:34 AM    #

2. I have often thought that we should just cut to the chase and rank pre-school programs in terms of which assisted living facilities their graduates get into at the other end of their lives.

   — Judith Shapiro    Sep 14, 07:45 AM    #

3. More flawed Rankings. Just what we need.

   — Perry    Sep 14, 08:10 AM    #

4. All references to their rankings should refer to them, as in this article, as “the No. 3 news magazine.”

   What’s sauce for the goose….

   — lk    Sep 14, 08:25 AM    #

5. I think the main issue when dealing with Higher Education is that society views all institutions of higher learning in the same way. Every university within the country is supposedly in competition with each other when they truly should not be. By having Harvard, UCLA, and Kansas State all on the same list, it gives the illusion that they are all comparable institutions. It is similar to comparing apples and oranges. With universities understanding that parents and potential students use these lists to aid them in their decision in selecting an institution, it forces low tiered universities to copy what their higher ranked counterparts are doing. My institution is an ideal example. The University of Central Florida has looked at the University of Florida as a benchmark institution for years. We have consistently increased enrollment to become the sixth largest in the country, we have developed a state of the art medical school, as well as a brand new football stadium on campus, both in which we can not afford … all characteristics that resemble our peers in Gainesville. We need to establish a system that honors and highlights individuality. Every institution should be great at what they do best. Every university has something that makes them stand out, something that no other college can duplicate, and that is what should be focused on… becoming GREAT at one thing, rather than becoming mediocre at everything! Maybe if we develop as system that promotes every institution to become great in their own particular way, schools can excel and focus on educating their students, rather then finding ways to become more like their state’s flagship institution.

   — Matthew Brennan (UCF)    Sep 14, 08:40 AM    #

6. To the comment that “As long as they are based on opinions instead of data…”

   Anyone who has any foundation in research methodology would agree that opinions ARE data. Most social research relies on opinion (the researchers’ or the subjects’).

   — Researcher Ethnographer    Sep 14, 09:44 AM    #

7. Can’t wait to have these new rankings appear. More targets for thinking people to take aim at in exposing faulty data collection and analysis. Kelly and Morse should be ashamed of themselves, but I think they are above shame.

   — College Official    Sep 14, 09:57 AM    #

8. There are plenty of measures available for those who want to look at the data, but the trick may be finding a standardized way to count it all and to factor in additional qualities such as campus location, access, demographics, etc. Among themselves, I know UW-River Falls and numerous other colleges take a hard look at their retention and graduation rates, first year programs, affordability, scholarships, work study, undergraduate research, community service projects, intramural sports, campus organization activities, access to faculty, engagement of students in the classroom, major programs, job placement, alumni satisfaction, etc.

   — Glenn Spiczak    Sep 14, 10:26 AM    #

9. Questions to the author of the “As long as they are based on opinions instead of data” comment, or anyone who agrees with her/him: What data should rankings be based on to be useful? And what data in the current USNWR rankings would you keep/discard? (They’re not based entirely on opinion surveys…)

   — jason    Sep 14, 10:29 AM    #

10. Re comment #5, above, you can compare apples and oranges, you just can’t multiply them. :)

    — CBR    Sep 14, 11:20 AM    #

11. The 25% of the US News ranking that is based on reputation (through a survey of presidents) is opinion with little basis. Few will know much about many schools and much of what they (and we) know is hearsay. Reputation trails reality (often by many years) and is more easily manipulated by marketing than by substantial improvement.

    Then again, there are standout programs at some average institutions and some terrible programs at well-regarded institutions. Global evaluations of an institution’s “reputation” do students a disservice when they take the place of getting facts about the program in which the student wishes to enroll.

    The post about school’s distinctive mission is dead on. Schools are “best” for different students. A school with a strong access component in its mission should not be compared with Harvard on student retention. And students who choose a school that will provide folks like them with a great education should not labor under the false impression that they “could only get into” a “fourth tier” school.

    — Jim    Sep 14, 11:33 AM    #

12. When our IR people quizzed the folks at USNews about what they do when the data they want is not on the common website (we refuse to play their game), their response was, “We just make it up.” I feel better now….rec

    — rec    Sep 14, 11:48 AM    #

13. As someone who comes from a top ranked university I say you’re all jealous. Newsweek does us a great service by recognizing how wonderful and pretty we are. It’s good to be King! Nahhhhh nahhhhh

    — marci    Sep 14, 01:56 PM    #

14. One of the outstanding features of America is the ability to have many different colleges/universities with divergent missions. To attempt to classify all colleges or universities in one lump begs the question. Potential students must retain he abliity to locate a college suitable to their abilities, needs and financial status. We need to facilitate the entry to college for more students, not less.

    — Ronald C Smith    Sep 14, 04:12 PM    #

15. Here’s how to rank:

    How much out-of-pocket does it cost to get a degree, percentage of graduates who get jobs in their field of study, salary level of those jobs and years required to pay back school loans. That’s what a good school is all about.

    — elza    Sep 19, 03:38 PM    #

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