Even with Recent Problems, College Rankings Likely to Remain

Students and college advisors¹ agree that there are problems with a popular college ranking system in the United States. The magazine U.S. News and World Report produces the rankings.

At the same time, the critics do not believe the rankings will end anytime soon.

The list of recent problems related to college rankings is a long one.

At the start of 2022, Moshe Porat, former leader of the business school at Temple University in Philadelphia, was sentenced to 14 months in prison. A court had found him guilty of giving false information to U.S. News and World Report that raised his school's ranking. He was also ordered to pay a large financial penalty.

Over the summer, Columbia University professor Michael Thaddeus said he believed some of the data the university sent to the magazine were incorrect. As a result, the university held back its numbers and was not included in U.S. News and World Report's 2023 rankings. The publication also removed Columbia from past lists.

Law schools back out

And finally, in autumn, a number of top law schools protested the rankings. They restricted some information they sent to the magazine. The protesting schools included Yale, Stanford, Harvard and the University of California – Berkeley.

In all, nine of the top 14 law schools ranked by U.S. News and World Report joined the protest.

The leaders of the law schools said the magazine does not consider some important information. For example, they said the magazine does not show how the schools prepare students for work in public service.

Heather Gerken is the head of Yale's law school. She called the magazine's product -- ranking schools -- "nearly impossible." She noted² that all law schools are different and a "one-size-fits-all" system "cannot provide an accurate picture."

In early 2023, U.S. News and World Report answered the criticism. The magazine said it would change its system. The rankings would not penalize³ schools whose graduates moved on to advanced degree programs or important, but low-paying, jobs in public service. In addition, the magazine said it would no longer center so much of its final number on the opinions of law professors, lawyers and judges.

The law schools, however, continued to say they would not cooperate.

What comes next?

Heading into 2023, some schools, such as Columbia, will be unranked. Other schools are reconsidering their involvement with rankings. One expert, however, said rankings are still an important way for students to get extra information about colleges.

Allen Koh is the chief executive at Cardinal⁴ Education, a company in Northern California that helps students think about colleges and prepare their applications.

He said he does not think the protest will affect the reputations of law schools at Yale or Harvard. In addition, he said it is unlikely universities will stop their participation⁵ in the rankings.

"For any university that is considered hyper-elite now, it will be considered hyper-elite later. And we don't think that'll change."

In fact, Koh said he thinks universities will continue to try to get good rankings even though "everybody understands rankings are imperfect." He noted that rankings are especially important for international students who cannot visit colleges before deciding to attend.

"Your ranking – A – helps attract talent. B – instills pride for people who have already graduated. The better ranking you have, everyone who's already gone there, their degrees are getting more valuable."

Koh pointed⁶ out that a school's ability to raise money improves as its ranking improves, which permits it to open new buildings and create more programs. He called it a "virtuous⁷ cycle."

International students

Sarju Poudel of Nepal recently finished his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Texas-Tyler. Tyler is a city in the eastern part of the state, not far from Louisiana.

Poudel said the process of choosing a college in the U.S. was "overwhelming." But, he said he never considered just a college's rankings. He wanted to make sure he received full financial aid at a school that supported computer science, physics and engineering.

"As long as the programs and university was regionally accredited⁸, it passed my criteria⁹ for consideration," he said.

Now that he has graduated from college in the U.S., Poudel said he thinks higher-ranked schools can sometimes provide better possibilities for their students. For example, "high-ranking colleges may indicate availability of more funds, and (therefore) more research and project opportunities."

Still, when he gives advice to students from Nepal, he said he tells them to ignore rankings. He pushes them to explore "their programs, professors' backgrounds, projects and events related to their program and availability of internships."

Kartik Sundaram of India is finishing an advanced degree at the University of Michigan. The first thing he did when thinking about colleges was look up rankings, "just like I would if I was looking to buy a laptop."

"Did I think they were important? Yes. Do I think they are important now? No."

The rankings, he said, were good because they gave him a starting point for his research. From there, he could look for more details, such as how often students graduate in four years. "Because I did not want to pay for a fifth year," he said.

His advice for international students considering universities to attend?

"Don't sweat [the rankings] too much," he said, adding, "No matter how much research you do, it's unlikely you'll even get close to half of the whole picture."

Words in This Story

rank –v. to put a group of things in order, usually from best to worst

accurate –adj. correct or proper

penalize –v. to punish

advanced degree –n. a level of education that comes after a bachelor's degree in the U.S.

application –n. a document one fills out in order to be considered for a job or a place at a school

participation –n. involvement in an activity

hyper-elite –adj. one of the very best

instill –v. to fill with something

virtuous –adj. honorable or worthy¹⁰

overwhelming –adj. a feeling when something is difficult or hard to manage

accredited –adj. something that has official approval

criteria –n. one piece of important information

indicate –v. to give a signal

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

4 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

5 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

8 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

9 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

10 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。