Spring Break
U.S. News rankings lose collegiate support
Issue date: 9/20/07
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Hopkins has no plans to join a consortium of universities that will no longer participate in the U.S. News & World Report's annual influential college ranking list.
Nineteen liberal arts institutions collectively known as the Annapolis Group, which includes nearby Goucher College, drafted the "President's Statement on College Rankings" letter on Sept. 7.
This letter, known as the President's Letter, states that those who have signed will refuse to fill out the U.S. News reputation survey, and will not tout their rankings in advertising.
"The University has not yet taken any position on the step that some of the Annapolis Group colleges have taken to pull out of the reputation survey." said William Conley, dean of Enrollment and Academic Services.
Despite this, Conley feels that the University supports what the President's Letter is trying to achieve. "Our basic view on rankings has been consistent from the beginning and is very much in line with the underlying philosophy that the Annapolis Group is espousing: Accurate ranking of colleges is impossible. Even if it were possible, no prospective student should base the choice of a college on ranking," Conley said.
A major issue of contention for those who object to the rankings is the peer assessment survey. According to Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, the survey asks university presidents, provosts and admissions deans to fill out a form ranking the quality of hundreds of schools.
This data, known as an "academic reputation," accounts for 25 percent of a school's overall U.S. News ranking, which weighs more heavily than any other category.
"A lot of people know Hopkins and [the peer assessment] is important to why we do well on the ranking system," said Cathy Lebo, director of Institutional Research at Hopkins. This year U.S News ranked the University as 14th on the list of top national universities.
While admitting that the peer assessment part was by nature subjective, Morse insisted that the ranking system provides a valuable perspective to parents and students. "It's something a student might want to know when applying to grad school and it has meaning to a student years after graduating," he said, adding that "a school's ranking can open certain doors or make it harder to open them."
Nineteen liberal arts institutions collectively known as the Annapolis Group, which includes nearby Goucher College, drafted the "President's Statement on College Rankings" letter on Sept. 7.
This letter, known as the President's Letter, states that those who have signed will refuse to fill out the U.S. News reputation survey, and will not tout their rankings in advertising.
"The University has not yet taken any position on the step that some of the Annapolis Group colleges have taken to pull out of the reputation survey." said William Conley, dean of Enrollment and Academic Services.
Despite this, Conley feels that the University supports what the President's Letter is trying to achieve. "Our basic view on rankings has been consistent from the beginning and is very much in line with the underlying philosophy that the Annapolis Group is espousing: Accurate ranking of colleges is impossible. Even if it were possible, no prospective student should base the choice of a college on ranking," Conley said.
A major issue of contention for those who object to the rankings is the peer assessment survey. According to Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, the survey asks university presidents, provosts and admissions deans to fill out a form ranking the quality of hundreds of schools.
This data, known as an "academic reputation," accounts for 25 percent of a school's overall U.S. News ranking, which weighs more heavily than any other category.
"A lot of people know Hopkins and [the peer assessment] is important to why we do well on the ranking system," said Cathy Lebo, director of Institutional Research at Hopkins. This year U.S News ranked the University as 14th on the list of top national universities.
While admitting that the peer assessment part was by nature subjective, Morse insisted that the ranking system provides a valuable perspective to parents and students. "It's something a student might want to know when applying to grad school and it has meaning to a student years after graduating," he said, adding that "a school's ranking can open certain doors or make it harder to open them."
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gabriella
posted 9/25/07 @ 10:24 AM EST
I am a very big proponent of peer assessment. I highly value the expert opinion it offers, and believe it to be the only category of real value in the USNWR ranking. (Continued…)
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