Find the Best Online Universities

October 1st, 2005

In 1983, U.S. News & World Report began its famed annual list of America’s “top colleges.” This list was originally compiled based on college presidents’ reviews of rival institutions. At the time, this was simply another flashy magazine list to help sell issues. However, it quickly grew in popularity and would become an authoritative resource for enrolling students.

Many criticisms have been directed at the college listing in recent years, however. The way the list is compiled is under a lot of scrutiny and some former participants are now boycotting the ranking system. Rival college listings have now gained popularity, such as the ones from Princeton Review and Newsweek.

Below are the top 12 criticisms of the U.S. News & World Report college ranking formula.

1. Flawed Methodology – Much of the complaints about the annual “top colleges” list stem from the actual formula used by the publication. Some of the rankings are based on the newsmagazine’s own formula and compiled data, while other information is based on peer reviews. There is plenty of room for error in this system and some of the factors weighed are completely irrelevant when determining what constitutes a “good school.” How much a school’s alumni donates, for example, is far less important than the quality of education received at a school.
2. Pedigree Wins Over Value – Private and expensive universities undoubtedly have an advantage on the U.S. News & World Report college ranking list. This is because the ranking system puts a huge emphasis on the amount of money a school makes and how well known it is. However, there are plenty of smaller universities that offer a great education and are shut out of the top spots.
3. The List is “One Size Fits All” – How can someone properly assess the many attributes of a college by giving it a letter grade or numerical score? The oversimplification of the “top colleges” list is almost laughable when one breaks the system down. There are many factors that can make a college experience great and those factors are different for every student. If there is a perfect system for ranking a college, no one has found it yet.
4. Colleges are Not Thoroughly Examined – While rival college listings arrive with highly detailed facts about each college’s offerings, U.S. News & World Report seems to leave a lot of facts out. When hopeful college students begin to research their potential schools, they should have access to as much information as possible. The “top colleges” list from U.S. News & World Report offers a condensed, magazine-style report rather than a thorough examination of all pros and cons.
5. Data is Incorrect – President Gerhard Casper of Stanford University joined a growing boycott of the U.S. News & World Report college ranking system years ago. Not only did he find the methodology of the system to be flawed, his critical 1996 letter to the editor of the newsmagazine indicated that some of the data shown on the report is flat-out false. Casper pointed out that the “top colleges” list suggested that Stanford University’s financial resources had dropped considerably from one year to the next, which was simply not true.
6. Lists Are Made to Sell Issues – U.S. News and World Report was a struggling magazine when it began its annual college ranking. At the time, many newspapers and magazines were trying the “Top 10…” formula to sell issues. The annual “top colleges” issue is one very successful example of the marketing strategy. Today, people consider this report to be a disingenuous way to make more money.
7. Colleges May be Manipulating the System – One of the factors used to rank colleges on this list is peer assessment surveys. Top administrators from each qualifying school receive a survey to complete on rival schools. This system is obviously capable of being manipulated. Given the amount of clout associated with being on the “top colleges” list, it is hard to imagine why colleges wouldn’t try to manipulate the rankings as much as possible. Therefore, these surveys should not be given much credence.
8. Survey Participants are Not Qualified to Judge – Assuming a college administrator is being honest while critiquing a rival college and is not intending to skew ratings, who is to say this person knows enough about rival schools to properly judge? There is an option on these surveys to select “don’t know” when asked about a school. However, that in itself can alter the facts. After all, there are plenty of great, yet lesser known, schools that may not be familiar to some of these administrators.
9. Colleges are Punished for Not Participating – Since 1995, Reed College has declined participation with the “top colleges” issue because it feels the system is flawed and can stand in the way for lesser known colleges to be recognized. After the college made a stand against the annual ranking and refused the peer assessment surveys, Reed College suddenly dropped in its rankings. It was clear that U.S. News & World Report was not happy with the negative backlash. Once Reed College made this bias public, the next year’s rankings were again favorable.
10. Colleges Feel Pressured to Participate – The annual rankings hold a lot of clout with enrolling students, which almost gives the list the ability to make or break a smaller institution. For that reason, colleges feel obligated to not only participate with the ranking, but do everything possible to stay in the newsmagazine’s good graces. When schools are participating against their better judgment out of intimidation, that is a serious red flag.
11. Rankings Change Erratically – In his scathing letter to the newsmagazine, Stanford’s Gerhard Casper also pointed out that the college rankings are erratic at times. In his own words, “universities – and, in most cases, the statistics they submit – change little from one year to the next.” Therefore, if a university is #1 in a category one year and #15 the next year, something is definitely awry. This erratic numbering system indicates that the newsmagazine is secretly changing its formulas or is doing something very wrong.
12. Annual Issue is for “Traditional” Students – U.S. News & World Report aims the annual list at “traditional students.” This means non-international, first-time college students around the ages of 18-24. However, that is but one demographic among a larger group of students across the country. When considering what constitutes a “good school,” the report should instead consider the individual needs of all students across the board.

Although U.S. News & World Report has altered its ranking system over the years, there are many people who are still dissatisfied with the process. In fact, some of the newer additions to the annual report have left people more unconvinced than ever. While the newsmagazine may one day construct a system that pleases everyone, it appears that the number of critics only grows larger each year.

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