And the winners are...

School rankings are fundamentally flawed

Last week, U.S. News and World Report released its list of graduate school rankings. It is not altogether surprising that the University made a very strong showing in these rankings - the School of Social Work was rated first nationally and the School of Public Health was ranked fourth. Many University graduate schools - such as Nursing, Engineering, Education, Business and Law rated in the top ten and the Medical School tied for 12th. But despite these impressive ratings, the system U.S. News and World Report uses to compile them cannot truly determine the quality of a program.

The primary factor in determining the rankings is academic reputation; research expenditures are also important for most graduate schools. But these are not the only things that determine a program's quality. For instance, the survey does not take things like quality of teaching into account, even though teaching quality is one of the most important parts of the educational experience. Using research expenditures as a factor means that schools with smaller budgets or that are not as research-oriented may get short shrift in the ratings.

Many of the criteria used in college rankings are also biased towards private universities. This is especially true of the undergraduate rankings, where selectivity and alumni donations figure heavily into the selection. It is difficult for public universities to compete with Ivy League schools in the field of alumni contribution, because these schools frequently have more wealthy donors. Being less selective is not necessarily a flaw - it allows for a more diverse student body and having students from all different backgrounds adds to the quality of a school rather than detracting from it.

College rankings are not completely worthless, of course - many prospective students find them helpful in selecting a school. But they would be far more helpful if they took into account more of what actually goes on in the classroom, rather than looking primarily at things like reputation and alumni contributions. Considering the aspects of education that benefit students the most would lead to a better way of determining a school's quality.