<p>Rankings don't gauge a college's true worth
Tuesday, July 10, 2007</p>
<p>The Kenyon web site still brags about Kenyon's US news ranking, but here is what S. Georgia Nugent, president of Kenyon College said in an editorial page column (I saw this in the Cleveland Plain Dealer)</p>
<p>Are we sore that we're not No. 1? </p>
<p>No. </p>
<p>Almost 100 college presidents have acted collectively to improve the admissions process and accountability in higher education: We intend to stop participating in the surveys that underlie the U.S. News and World Report annual college rankings. Last month in Annapolis, Md., we issued a statement that we intend to make more and better information available to prospective students. </p>
<p>The presidents' major objection is that the U.S. News ranking does not serve students and families well. For example, the survey doesn't pay direct attention to education. It doesn't measure students' experience or learning. Instead, it focuses, for the most part, on institutional wealth. </p>
<p>One might argue that institutional wealth is a proxy for the quality of student learning. But current research and my own experience would belie that. </p>
<p>I spent my undergraduate years and most of my professional career at Princeton, whose endowment makes it, per capita, probably the wealthiest institution in the country. (Not incidentally, it is always at the top of the magazine's rankings.) </p>
<p>Undeniably, Princeton provides an excellent education. And so does Kenyon, a college with a much smaller per capita endowment but an enormous commitment to undergraduate learning. </p>
<p>I have been astounded by the quality of education that a small, less-wealthy college can provide. </p>
<p>This year, as many students at Kenyon as at Harvard University and Stanford University received Goldwater scholarships, the premier national award for undergraduates in science, math and engineering. And 10 of our students were named Fulbright scholars. </p>
<p>Other small colleges have similar stories to tell. A survey that focuses so much on measures of wealth is not providing information that accurately reflects the learning possibilities a college offers. </p>
<p>In addition to data focused mainly on wealth, U.S. News attributes 25 percent of its ranking to a "reputational survey" completed by college presidents. The participation of college presidents seems to be a major selling point of the magazine and implies that experts are making a meaningful evaluation. But the point of greatest unanimity among the Annapolis presidents is that the reputational survey is a meaningless exercise. </p>
<p>The public needs to be aware of the survey instrument that garners this allegedly reliable expert data. As presidents of liberal arts colleges, we receive seven single-spaced pages, listing 269 colleges, each followed by a line of six boxes (one to five, plus "I don't know"). We are asked to check a box. This research instrument is as finely-honed as the feedback card you might receive at a motel or a fast-food restaurant. </p>
<p>Finally, a major concern of the college presidents is the absurdity of reducing the richness of college experience to a single number, resulting in an ordinal "ranking," in the mode of a "top hits" list. </p>
<p>Embarking on a college education is not like buying a car or a major appliance. Yet the consumer-oriented production of a ranking relies on that false analogy. Despite unfortunate rhetoric - coming even from the federal government - education is not a product you buy. It's a process in which you engage. In fact, choosing a college is itself an educational process, but that process has been short-circuited and distorted by the rankings game. </p>
<p>Colleges recognize that education is a major investment and that such an investment should be made with care, on the basis of meaningful information. </p>
<p>With the Annapolis announcement, college presidents are reaffirming educational values, rather than marketplace gimmicks. The presidents who voted to step back from the U.S. News survey are committed to providing more detailed and meaningful information to prospective students and their families. There are already means to do so. </p>
<p>The National Survey of Student Engagement, developed at Indiana University, collects data truly related to educational experience and outcomes. More than 1,100 colleges and universities have chosen to participate. NSSE does not make the information public, but colleges can - and do. In addition, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities has developed and is refining a template for institutions to use in making clear, significant data about their schools widely available online. The standardized template allows for comparisons across colleges and also permits institutions to clarify their distinctive aspects. </p>
<p>By ending compliance with a deeply flawed program, colleges will take a positive step to assist students and families to educate themselves about their choices, based on sound and reliable information. The appeal of a simplistic rating is easy to understand, but when that rating lacks, in the words of one study, "any defensible empirical or theoretical basis," it surely is not the best introduction to a college education.</p>