I’ve checked out the methodology; I think we’re looking at this all wrong. It isn’t so much a measure of the academic strength of an institution (though it does include a metric for that, it has a relatively small weight). It’s focused on the relative dollar value an institution gives to a student. Consider the high percentages given to Payscale, “student satisfaction”, and student debt (combined, 60% of the ranking). Those are crude metrics for relative achievement based on price (where price is both financial and in relative happiness), with achievement getting just enough of a rating to ensure that the fastest criticism of the rankings (HYPS lower than expected) can be avoided.
All in all, it’s a better ranking that should be used along with the US News and CWUR rankings to get a better picture of the entire situation.
I’m still waiting on a ranking that lets me weigh the factors I consider important and ignore those I don’t, but that’s a ways off I expect.