Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School will no longer submit data to the U.S. News and World Report, citing that the publication’s rankings create “perverse incentives” for institutions.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by George Q. Daley, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, who says his concerns around school rankings are rooted in the “principled belief” that rankings cannot reflect the high quality of education that Harvard Medical strives to obtain.
Furthermore, the school says that college rankings create “perverse incentives” for colleges to report misleading data, set policies to boost rankings or divert financial aid from students in need to wealthier students.
“Ultimately, the suitability of any particular medical school for any given student is too complex, nuanced, and individualized to be served by a rigid ranked list, no matter the methodology,” Daley wrote.
Daley says he’s been contemplating this decision since he was appointed as dean in 2017 and was compelled to make this decision after several elite law schools withdrew from the rankings as well.
In a statement, Eric Gertler, the CEO and executive chairman of U.S. News and World Report, said students deserve access to all the data and information on a college to make the right decision.
“We know that comparing diverse academic institutions across a common data set is challenging, and that is why we have consistently stated that the rankings should be one component in a prospective student’s decision-making process,” Gertler said.
Harvard Medical school joins a long list of schools that have withdrawn from the U.S. News and World Report rankings. In November of 2022, both Harvard law and Yale law schools pulled out from the online magazine’s rankings system, citing issues around its debt metric system.
“A school may lower debt at graduation through generous financial aid, but it may also achieve the same effect by admitting more students who have the resources to avoid borrowing,” Harvard officials wrote. “The debt metric gives prospective students no way to tell which is which. And to the extent the debt metric creates an incentive for schools to admit better-resourced students who don’t need to borrow, it risks harming those it is trying to help.”
The law schools also cited that the U.S. News and World reports heavy focus on LSAT scores and grades has led to schools directing more financial aid toward applicants based on their test scores than those who are in need.
In response, U.S. News and World Report said it would give more weight to law schools whose graduates obtain advanced degrees or school-funded fellowships to work in public-service jobs, the New York Times reported. Indicators of school debt or spending per student would no longer be considered. Furthermore, U.S. News and World Report would rely less on surveys of law schools’ reputations by academics, lawyers and judges.
As for now, Harvard Medical School will continue to share some of its data on its admissions website.
“What matters most to me as dean, alumnus, and faculty member is not a #1 ranking, but the quality and richness of the educational experience we provide at Harvard Medical School that encourages personal growth and lifelong learning,” Daley said.
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