US News College Rankings: Useful Tool or Misleading Hype?

Since 1983, US News & World Report has published their annual College Rankings, and students and their parents frequently rely on these rankings to formulate a list of colleges to which to apply. How are the rankings determined? US News stresses that it relies on “quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality, and [the rankings are] based on our nonpartisan view of what matters in education.” In other words, they wrote a survey and send it to over 4000 institutions of higher learning.

What they don’t tell you (at least not on the first methodology page) is that 25% of the score used to calculate the rankings comes from one section of the survey called “peer-assessment.” In it, the college presidents, provosts, and deans charged with filling out the survey are asked to evaluate other schools’ performance and strengths. Statistically, the assessment is the highest weighted portion of the survey.

Understandably, there has been a growing reluctance to rate other schools, and university cooperation has been on the decline. In 2007, 58% of the 4,089 presidents, provosts and deans of admissions responded to the peer assessment. The highest peer assessment rate was in 2000, when the magazine received 68%.

So what else are they judging if so many decline to respond the highest weighted question? Alumni giving is also important. That means schools with a predominantly lower-income student body will fare poorly, while those with huge endowments who can hire fundraisers to get their alumni to cough up sizeable sums through telemarketing and fancy mail campaigns dominate.

What it all boils down to is that the rankings, while having the appearance of being scientific, are based on highly subjective variables. It might make sense to give a quick look to check, for example, acceptance rates and prices. But using the rankings to compile a list of schools to apply to isn’t a great idea. In fact, many schools are boycotting or talking about boycotting the survey altogether. Take them for what they’re worth—an incredible money maker for US News & World Report, and a questionable tool for students and their families.