<p>Actually, much debt is incurred by families sending their kid to Brand X colleges, in the mistaken belief just making it through is good enough, that the diploma is a magic talisman.</p>
<p>The fact that you, as you said, have traveled to many places around the globe over the past 3 decades and met many parents and students who think this ranking matters most, does not make US News the “gold standard” around the world. </p>
<p>US NEws is a profit venture and, like many sources, including NYT and WSJ, seeks attention and revenue from an audience that does not approach information with critical thinking.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t send my kid to UMiami over Dartmouth for plenty of reasons that have to do with specifics of education there, no matter which intellect told me that, for now, he thought it was “the best” for entrepreneurship. There are many factors that go into a right match.</p>