U.S. News and World Report changed the nature of college admissions after publishing its first college guide 11 years ago. However, a panel of experts affiliated with higher education criticized the effects of college rankings on higher education Thursday. The rankings are sponsored by the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Post-secondary Education.
\The problem with the rankings does not lie in the information collected. [Students and parents] should know these things,"" Robert Ehrenberg, director of Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, said.
Ehrenberg said one problem was the manner in which U.S. News and World Report organized its rankings.
""By relying on ordinal rankings, U.S. News has helped exacerbate the pressures that exist [in college admissions],"" Ehrenberg said.
Ehrenberg described tactics colleges use to boost university rankings and increase revenues, including recruiting students already enrolled at lower-ranked institutions, something Ehrenberg said Cornell University does.
""We poach on their top students for what we euphemistically
call 'enrollment management',"" Ehrenberg said.
Ehrenberg explained emphasizing certain attributes over others put some schools at a disadvantage.
""The real problem with the rankings is the arbitrary assignment of weights in a category. No set of weights ... will accurately rank which school a student should attend,"" Ehrenberg said.
According to Robert Morse, director of data research at U.S. News & World Report, the categories they use in their rankings guide have been created after surveys and interviews with college administrators and are standards used on all campuses.
Though Ehrenberg criticized considering financial expenditures on a per student basis, Morse said he thinks it is a significant indicator of how well a school will cater to its students.
""In my opinion, less does mean less in terms of academic services and programs. If schools are able to spend more money, they're able to produce more,"" Morse said.
Unlike public schools, however, Ehrenberg said private schools were not limited by tuition caps and raised tuition to create higher levels of per-student expenditure.
MaryBeth Walpole, assistant professor at Rowan University in New Jersey, said college rankings do not give a full picture of a school. Though students can use rankings in making their decision, they should look at other facets of the school as well.
""Students should look broadly at a whole host of information and should focus on how the school fits [their needs], rather than at high rankings,"" Walpole said.
Instead of focusing on just ratings, Walpole said college admissions counselors should reach out to student demographics not normally recruited by the colleges.
""It's our responsibility to provide the information kids need on different types of programs, financial aid,"" she said. ""That information is not getting to a huge proportion of students.\
