I haven’t seen this article discussed on CC yet. I think it’s germane to this convo although it might deserve its own thread. Basically some Reed stats students reverse-engineered the USNWR rankings to figure out one of the pieces of data they put into their calculation and found how the ranking system was able to penalize schools like Reed who don’t play their game. https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/articles/2019/usnews-discrepancy.html
It was a different Reed article where l learned about Cal’s cheating/suspension. Fascinating. Apparently Scripps and Johnson and Wales are also out, and 3 other schools.
I had to give the USNews response a big eyeroll though. It was like the bad guy on Scooby Doo and “those meddling kids”. 
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/07/29/reed-students-challenge-us-news-formula
@washugrad interesting article. Thanks for sharing. 
@privatebanker Actually here is a survey link from the chronicle of higher education. Not one of the tippy top universities considered UCB a peer at any level, however UCB considers itself a peer of them.
@CU123 It seems Cal didn’t select any peers.
Yep I don’t think they participated in the survey, but I do think that Cal perceives itself as a peer of top private schools, it’s just not reciprocated.
oh, please @CU123 this is just your opinion. Snooze a roo.
@OHMomof2 i’m rolling my eyes at USNWR and at @CU123 now. Ridiculous.
I’ve seen this article and the accompanying interactive chart in the Chronicle before. It’s a survey submitted by the business people at each college, not by the professors. It’s more about finances than anything else.
Well, I for one, am happy to see that the fighting University of Phoenix(es) considers itself a peer of Cal. 
Here’s another anecdote. I was told by a person at a tippy top university whose job was to recruit faculties from other institutions. She said her job was relatively easy unless the target was from one of the few peer institutions. Berkeley was specifically mentioned as among those institutions.
Honestly, I can’t imagine these tippy tops having an easy time plucking faculty away from UCLA, UMich, UT, UVa, etc.
Much ado about…a veer off track.
Sorry. Peer rankings are about as useful as “top 25 docs” in your town.
I think it does show just how deeply the notion of rankings is embedded in some minds…to argue about UCB and who thinks what.
Anybody who is looking at USNews rankings to determine the quality of a college as an institution of education or research does not truly understand what education or research actually mean, since USNews rankings measure neither.
^ yes!
They actually do have separate rankings for a) Best Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects; and b) Best Undergraduate Teaching and many of the top colleges show up on these lists as well.
Two takeaways:
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no college rankings system is going to be perfect and at the end of the day “it’s just a ranking”.
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Prospective students need to use these rankings as just one data point (of many), they need to do their own college research, they need to find the “best fit” college(s) for themselves using their own criteria (e.g. college has their major, financially feasible, research and internship possibilities, good undergrad teaching, quality of peer students, location, college reputation, weather, job prospects, school spirit/sports, etc.).
No one ranking is going to give you all the answers but it can be a starting point in the initial research into which colleges will be the “best fit” for each student. Let’s give rankings, some credit but let’s not put too much emphasis on the results.
Funny thing is colleges (and grad school programs and professional schools) always deride the various rankings, except when they move up. Same with alums, lol.
No matter what CC forum members think of the rankings and their worth, it is a fact that Cal and its top brass do care very much. I was up there for Cal Day and none other than Chancellor Christ said to the assembled thousands that Cal was the number #1 ranked public institution, even though everyone in the audience was likely aware that no, it’s actually your rival down south, UCLA, who is ranked #1. So no doubt Cal covets, and very badly wants to retain, that top spot. Nobody likes to lose.
In my view the ranking loss to UCLA and this hand-slapping by USNWR should be a wake-up call for Cal, a time for getting back to the business at hand. Hey Cal! Please curtail your never-ending political agenda and instead, divert some of that rancor towards picking up the litter; mopping the floors; and providing an increased measure of safety for our students. Let’s get back to the important business at hand: teaching our kids without a hint of bias; walking the walk in the tolerance arena; becoming a leader in college affordability; and greatly tightening up administrative efficiency and standards.
And oh yeah, let’s win that bowl game this year.
UMich claims to be the #1 public too:
https://record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-again-top-us-public-university-qs-world-rankings
:lol:
From the article that this chart was based on.
Each year colleges submit “comparison groups” to the U.S. Department of Education to get feedback on how their institution stacks up in terms of finances, enrollment, and other measures tabulated in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. The groups sometimes represent a college’s actual peers but more often reveal their aspirations.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/in-selecting-peers-for/134228
Of course we have to wonder why UCB would misrepresent data? That does not paint a good picture of the university, or are they worried about there falling ranking and intentionally misrepresented data? IOW, are we saying that the UCB administration has complete idiots in there or something more nefarious.