What's the deal with Reed and the US News rankings?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Reed College
1

Back when US News started ranking colleges, Reed was (I think) in the top 10. It’s now 87th and US News has a footnote saying this: “School refused to fill out U.S. News statistical survey. Data that appear are from school in previous years or from another source such as the National Center for Education Statistics.”

Did something change with the US News methodology that had an enormous effect on Reed? Why did Reed opt out of the US News process (which lots of colleges complain about but still participate in)? Does the school’s decision to opt out contribute to its plummeting ranking? I realize that none of this ought to matter all that much, but the effect on this particular school has been striking and I’d appreciate any info or speculation that anyone has. Thanks!

2

https://www.reed.edu/apply/college-rankings.html

3

Yes. I love this ^. I wish more colleges would follow Reed’s lead. Bravo!

US News has ruined the college admission process. Students are simply applying to the top 15 or 20 schools and seeing what sticks, without giving any thought into whether those colleges are a good fit for them.

4

The Reed link shows nine statistical measures of how Reed has improved by 2015 (U$ NEW$ rank 93) over 1983 (U$ NEW$ rank 9), and nine statistical measures where Reed scores better than schools ranked higher by U$ NEW$.

The Reed link also has links to 14 articles on why U$ NEW$ rankings are bogus.

5

U$ NEW$ gets pwn3d by Reed.

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Wow - thanks very much, Meganerd2012! What a powerful article. Really appreciate you sharing it.