LAFAYETTE TODAY
Challenging the U.S. News Rankings
President Daniel Weiss joined other college leaders in mounting a challenge to the U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Colleges” rankings and focusing public attention on the rankings’ shortcomings.
Weiss and 11 other presidents signed a letter pledging to refuse to fill
out the U.S. News reputational survey, the portion of the magazine’s annual rankings survey in which colleges rate each other. The largest single factor in the rankings formula, it makes up 25 percent of scores. The signers also pledged to refuse to use the rankings to promote their institutions.
The letter was widely publicized upon its unveiling on May 5 by Lloyd Thacker, founder and director of the Education Conservancy, and has been sent to hundreds of other college presidents seeking similar commitments. The conservancy is a nonprofit organization committed to improving college admission processes.
“The Education Conservancy has taken on the onerous task of leading higher education in the direction of better evaluation systems. I applaud that,” Weiss says. “As a fairly new president, but someone who has been a higher education administrator for a number of years, it’s clear to me that the U.S. News system of ranking colleges is not a particularly responsible or useful means for providing prospective students with the information they need to make an informed decision.
“I don’t begrudge U.S. News anything—they are in the magazine business, and with these rankings they have created a terrific buzz each year. What is regrettable, however, is that leadership in higher education has responded to this market phenomenon by managing their institutions in a manner that serves the ratings game. The consequence has been the reallocation of resources and the misdirection of priorities towards objectives
that will result in an increase in the U.S. News rankings,” Weiss says.
“I strongly believe that disclosing information about our institutions and informing prospective students is a serious responsibility and that our first obligation is to provide that information in a manner that encourages responsible decision-making. Moreover, one of the great assets of American higher education is the diversity of its offerings. The U.S. News system has placed too great an emphasis on homogenization and aspiration to reaching a single goal—namely improvement in their rankings.”
With Weiss, the initial signatories were the presidents of Bethany College, Earlham College, Dickinson College, Drew University, Heritage University, Marlboro College, St. John’s College (Annapolis), St. John’s College
(Santa Fe), Southwestern University, Trinity University (D.C.), and Wheelock College.
A number of institutions have since joined, including Aurora University, College of Santa Fe, College of the Southwest, Denison University, Eckerd College, Franklin Pierce College, Furman University, McDaniel College, Missouri Baptist University, Moravian College, Naropa University, Northwestern College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Philander Smith College, San Francisco State University, Unity College, and Washington and
Jefferson College.
It was expected that the challenge would gain further momentum when members of the Annapolis Group, an organization of independent liberal arts colleges, met in June to discuss that topic
and others.
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