Rankings
I read an interesting article in the New York Times, about a group of liberal arts colleges called The Annapolis Group, that are going to develop a competing ranking system to the annual US News and World Report survey. “We really want to reclaim the high ground on this discussion,” said Katherine Will, the president of Gettysburg College and the incoming president of the Annapolis Group. “We should be defining the conversation, not a magazine that uses us for its business plan.” The association did not take a formal vote and each college will make its own decision, Dr. Will said.
The members of the Annapolis Group also decided to develop their own system of comparing institutions. The group intends to work with other higher education organizations to come up with a common format with comparable data.
“They will do what they will do,” Michele Tolela Myers, president of Sarah Lawrence College, said of U.S. News and World Report. “We will do what we will do. And we want to do it in a principled way.”
Brian Kelly, the editor of U.S. News, said the magazine applauded any effort to come up with new data. “If they come up with some new data, fine,” Mr. Kelly said. He was also conciliatory toward the presidents who said they would no longer cooperate with the magazine. “If a few presidents don’t want to participate, we understand,” he said.
. . .
The decision by the Annapolis Group comes on the heels of an effort this spring by a dozen college presidents, several of whom belong to the association, urging colleges to pledge not to participate in a critical section of the U.S. News rankings - a survey in which its asks presidents and other senior academic officers to rate the reputations of other colleges and universities. That survey is weighed more heavily in the magazine’s rankings than any other factor.
My undergraduate college, Pomona College, is a member of the Annapolis Group, and I'm curious as to whether or not they'll still participate in the US News and World Report rankings. When I was in college, Pomona was ranked number five for liberal arts colleges. (More recently, 2003, 4th, 2004: 5th, 2005: 6th, 2006: 6th, 2007: 7th (tied).) Amherst, Swarthmore, Williams, Middlebury and Vassar sort of hovered around us. It seems to still be the case. Most people haven't heard of Pomona, and so I did take some comfort in it's being well regarded by the people who had heard of it when I was in college. I don't remember paying much attention to the rankings when I was applying to college. My college counselor just recommended it to me as something that may meet my needs. I had absolutely no desire to go to the East Coast, and Pomona seemed to fit the small liberal arts college feel without having to invest in any cold weather gear.
I think the rankings are good for Pomona, but I also think that Pomona doesn't need the rankings of a third party in order to attract good candidates. It has a very good reputation, and the quality of people coming out of Pomona is high. I also think that if I were to have gone to any of the schools in the top, I dunno, 20 or so, I'd have similar things to say (and a lot more sweaters in my wardrobe). A lot of the factors of what makes a good school have nothing to do with the rankings, but more to do with the individual student's needs, goals and willingness to adapt.
I imagine that if schools were to be ranked in clusters, it'd give a better idea of which ones to look at more carefully--which ones to strive to get into--than saying that this year Pomona is slightly better than Carlton but slightly worse than Haverford. And I'd be hard pressed to get anyone to say that going to Pomona in Claremont, California and going to Bowdoin in Maine is the same thing.
The members of the Annapolis Group also decided to develop their own system of comparing institutions. The group intends to work with other higher education organizations to come up with a common format with comparable data.
“They will do what they will do,” Michele Tolela Myers, president of Sarah Lawrence College, said of U.S. News and World Report. “We will do what we will do. And we want to do it in a principled way.”
Brian Kelly, the editor of U.S. News, said the magazine applauded any effort to come up with new data. “If they come up with some new data, fine,” Mr. Kelly said. He was also conciliatory toward the presidents who said they would no longer cooperate with the magazine. “If a few presidents don’t want to participate, we understand,” he said.
. . .
The decision by the Annapolis Group comes on the heels of an effort this spring by a dozen college presidents, several of whom belong to the association, urging colleges to pledge not to participate in a critical section of the U.S. News rankings - a survey in which its asks presidents and other senior academic officers to rate the reputations of other colleges and universities. That survey is weighed more heavily in the magazine’s rankings than any other factor.
My undergraduate college, Pomona College, is a member of the Annapolis Group, and I'm curious as to whether or not they'll still participate in the US News and World Report rankings. When I was in college, Pomona was ranked number five for liberal arts colleges. (More recently, 2003, 4th, 2004: 5th, 2005: 6th, 2006: 6th, 2007: 7th (tied).) Amherst, Swarthmore, Williams, Middlebury and Vassar sort of hovered around us. It seems to still be the case. Most people haven't heard of Pomona, and so I did take some comfort in it's being well regarded by the people who had heard of it when I was in college. I don't remember paying much attention to the rankings when I was applying to college. My college counselor just recommended it to me as something that may meet my needs. I had absolutely no desire to go to the East Coast, and Pomona seemed to fit the small liberal arts college feel without having to invest in any cold weather gear.
I think the rankings are good for Pomona, but I also think that Pomona doesn't need the rankings of a third party in order to attract good candidates. It has a very good reputation, and the quality of people coming out of Pomona is high. I also think that if I were to have gone to any of the schools in the top, I dunno, 20 or so, I'd have similar things to say (and a lot more sweaters in my wardrobe). A lot of the factors of what makes a good school have nothing to do with the rankings, but more to do with the individual student's needs, goals and willingness to adapt.
I imagine that if schools were to be ranked in clusters, it'd give a better idea of which ones to look at more carefully--which ones to strive to get into--than saying that this year Pomona is slightly better than Carlton but slightly worse than Haverford. And I'd be hard pressed to get anyone to say that going to Pomona in Claremont, California and going to Bowdoin in Maine is the same thing.