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This commentary is by Alex Yin and William Falls from the University of Vermont. Yin is director of institutional research and assessment and Falls is dean of the college of arts and sciences.
The recent announcement that some prominent universities will no longer contribute to US News Best Colleges has once again brought the issue of college rankings into the spotlight.
In the age of online ratings, it is natural for us as consumers to want to be informed about the quality of a good or service. Universities are no exception. US News rankings have assumed the role of ultimate authority regarding the quality of our nation’s colleges and universities, providing “expert advice, rankings, and data to help you navigate your education journey and find the best college for you.”
But now, some of those colleges and universities are questioning whether US News rankings are truly serving the best interests of their institutions and students.
Unlike online ratings, which reflect the opinions of purchasers and users, the US News rankings are a set of measures that US News has determined quantify the “best” colleges and universities in America. These measures include 17 indicators, such as graduation rates, class size, faculty compensation, and SAT and ACT scores of entering students.
While we might agree that these measures are valuable, it is important to recognize that relying on a limited and common set of qualities to rank universities imagines that universities are monoliths striving to be the same, and that the students and communities they serve are also monolithic.
Moreover, it assumes that other qualities that are not part of the rankings — such as student learning, student participation in internships and research, student engagement in the community, the success of graduates in entering a career or graduate school, etc. — are unimportant. Thus, the rankings ignore the fact that colleges and universities are different for a purpose.
The beauty and strength of American higher education is its diversity and ability to serve a broad range of learners. Each institution serves its students and community in unique ways.
For students and families, focusing on US News rankings does not allow for the appreciation or valuation of these differences. By focusing on the rankings, families may lose their focus on finding an institution that best meets their student’s needs, goals and aspirations.
For example, one student may be looking for an institution that integrates a liberal arts curriculum with a major in a professional field such as engineering, business, or nursing. Another may prefer a school in a city that offers internship opportunities with Fortune 500 companies. These are the kinds of nuances that are lost in the rankings.
Which university to attend is one of the most important decisions a student and family can make, and that decision must be a well-informed one. So, what is to be used in place of US News and World Report’s rankings?
Our advice to students and families is to consider the qualities of a university that are important to you, not those selected by US News. Are you concerned about the breadth of offerings (with well-defined learning outcomes)? Class size? A four-year graduation rate? Cost of attendance? Student participation in internships or research? Student engagement in the community? Postgraduation earnings?
Data for all of these are available from several sources, including the universities themselves. Two other useful sources of data are the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and College Navigator, which provide data about universities as a whole as well as specific fields of study within those universities.
As the world continues to move toward a knowledge economy in which jobs of the future are not yet defined, we need to remind ourselves that higher education is truly about developing lifelong learners to ensure a vibrant democracy. This is an outcome that should provide a return on investment not only from a financial point of view, but from a social good perspective as well. And this is something that rankings like those from US News and World Report can never capture.
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