<p>How about, instead of ranking schools by the size of their endowments we rank them based on the number of publications and patents that come out of the college/university. We can weigh the numbers by the journals they are published in. These rankings have just gotten sillyer every year.</p>
<p>Yes, “bibliometric” rankings already have been done.</p>
<p>[BMC</a> Medicine | Full text | International ranking systems for universities and institutions: a critical appraisal](<a href=“http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/5/30]BMC”>International ranking systems for universities and institutions: a critical appraisal | BMC Medicine | Full Text)</p>
<p>The “research” scores of the NRC graduate program rankings are derived from faculty publications, citation rates, grants, and awards.</p>