US News Top 10 LAC - Over the Years

Parents Forum
1

I’m not a big fan of US News rankings, but it is interesting how they constantly revise their formulas to create movement in the rankings. If the rankings were static from year to year, they would receive much less attention. I primarily pay attention to the National LAC rankings. Since the rankings started in 1984, US News has ranked 19 LACs in its Top 10. Of those, only five have been in the Top 10 every year (WASP+Wellesley). Oberlin and Bryn Mawr, both once ranked as high as #5, are now ranked in the 30s. Most shocking is Reed, which has fluctuated between #9 and #93.

Here’s the list showing the best and worst US News rankings over the years for the 19 LACs that have ever been in the Top 10. Data is from Andrew G. Reiter, Associate Professor of Politcs and International Relations, Mount Holyoke College; data available at: http://andyreiter.com/datasets/

College Name Best Worst
Williams College 1 3
Amherst College 1 4
Swarthmore College 1 4
Wellesley College 3 8
Bowdoin College 3 13
Carleton College 3 14
Pomona College 4 9
Middlebury College 4 17
Haverford College 5 21
Oberlin College 5 30
Bryn Mawr College 5 32
Wesleyan University 6 21
Smith College 7 20
Davidson College 7 21
Claremont McKenna College 7 23
Grinnell College 8 22
Washington and Lee University 8 25
United States Naval Academy 9 22
Reed College 9 93

2

Also, Vassar College has ranged between #10 and #24.

3

Reed does not cooperate with USNWR surveys or whatever, so it apparently gets penalized for the “missing” information.

https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/articles/2019/usnews-discrepancy.html

4

No mystery with the Reed ranking. They refuse to play the U S News game, and pay accordingly.

5

Oberlin has gone off the rails.

6

Agree about Oberlin but it’s reputation is solid-enough that it can pull out of its slump, I think.

7

Oberlin has actually fallen to #33 as of the 2020 rankings, the lowest in the history of USN&WR lists. With all the bad press in the last few years, I expect it to keep falling.