U.S. News and World Report: You're on Notice!

The Goldwater Institute ^ | October 22, 2007 | Dr. Matthew Ladner

[GoldwaterInstitute]

Steven Colbert recently had a segment on college rankings. Colbert expressed disappointment that his alma mater, Dartmouth, did not rank well in the Washington Monthly rankings of college effectiveness. Washington Monthly focuses on the graduation rates of low-income students. Colbert complained that Dartmouth has plenty of social mobility, as you could enter a plutocrat and graduate an oligarch.

Despite the lighthearted treatment, a serious issue surrounds the issue of the perverse incentives created by the U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) rankings. Inputs dominate the USNWR rankings--how much money the universities have, and the SAT scores of incoming students, etc.

But a more appropriate ranking system would focus on outputs, not inputs. Student learning gains should be the focus of judging the effectiveness of colleges. The University of Texas System pioneered the use and publication of such gain scores on a broad test of cognitive skills. The results: the value added champions were UT-San Antonio, which sits at the bottom of the USNWR rankings. Strangely enough, the highest rated university according to USNWR, does not do so well in the value added department.

Arizona, with two universities ranked in the lower part of the second tier and one in the 4th tier of the USNWR rankings, has every incentive to adopt a system similar to that of UT. Arizona universities may never buy their way to the top of the heap, but they might be able to teach their way there, given the proper incentives.

[gridlock]

Elite universities admit the best students. The very best of the elite universities do not do too much damage to the students while they are there.

[ClearCase_guy]

The very best of the elite universities do not do too much damage to the students while they are there.

The elite schools allow the children of the Elite to rub elbows with other children of the Elite. This sets the stage for successful careers.

At the undergraduate level, I'm convinced that the elite universities offer nothing special other than close proximity to the offpsring of people who can open doors. But if that's what you want, it's going to cost you.

[Greg F]

Companies basically use the elite universities as surrogate IQ tests and “how hard does this guy or gal work” tests. Nothing more.

I think people that do the hiring and are conservative should be sure to recruit at the few conservative universities and colleges — since those kids are obviously the best and brightest in the country.