US News University Rankings

US News University Rankings February 10, 2012 There was an article in USA Today that discusses the lengths colleges will go to in order to boost their standing in the US News World Report university rankings. We all by now know what happened at Claremont McKenna College when the former Dean of Admissions falsely reported SAT scores of incoming CMC students. Presumably, Claremont McKenna will be removed from the US News World Report rankings next yearas they should be! Its like when the NCAA realizes that a college athlete should have been ineligible to participate because he received large sums of money from a booster. That college must then vacate any titles earned with that player and the university is often ineligible to compete in bowl games or the NCAA Tourney because of the indiscretions. The US News university rankings matter. Anyone who tells you differently isnt telling you the truth. But what about lesser offenses? Like when Baylor University paid admitted students to retake their SATs in order to boost the universitys standing in the US News university rankings? That was within the confines of the rulesbut was it ethical? Should Baylor have been reprimanded or removed from the US News rankings for their antics? We dont happen to think so. At least theyre playing within the rules. And the university rankings are a game so why not try and win? Baylor offered students incentive to take the SAT again. Its a free market economy. They didnt have to do it if they didnt want to. Frankly, Baylor was just playing smart! The USA Today article also goes on to mention that students dont really care about university rankings. The title of the article even includes the words, students shrug [at the rankings]. Thats ridiculous. The US News university rankings matter. Whether or not folks want to admit it, parents care about them. College applicants care about them. Alumni care about them. And colleges care about them. The list goes on and on. They impact the bottom line. They reflect the prestige of a university. And the magazine is seen as the standard on measuring colleges against each other. Even if Malcolm Gladwell doesnt happen to agree with the US News college ranking algorithm.