Those Bouncing College Rankings -- a 101

By Frank Pellegrini Friday, Aug. 20, 1999
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Egads! Yale, Harvard and Princeton have fallen out of first. Cal-Tech, a distant No. 9 last year, has vaulted into the top spot. On the vaunted U.S. News & World Report "Best National Universities" list, Stanford has dropped two places to No. 6. And Johns Hopkins, relegated in 1998 to shameful second-10 status, is back on its feet at No. 7 in a tie with Duke and UPenn, both of whom are a rung lower than last year. But dont freak out, aspiring teens and parents, the world of top-flight universities isnt undergoing some seismic shuffle. The rankers at U.S. News are just having fun tweaking their criteria. "In general, the changes in the way we rank schools boosted the rankings of a number of universities with strong science and engineering programs," explains the magazines disclaimer-loaded "Methodology" article. In other words, read the fine print; this ranking, when it comes to place-by-place minutiae, is little more than an annual parlor game.

"One thing you cant look at is how the schools move from year-to-year - because the criteria change, its like apples and oranges," says TIME education reporter Jilian Kasky. "Things in schools dont change that quickly." Another flaw, she says, is inherent: A college cant just be good - it has to be good for you. "Theres just no way to objectively rank a college. You have these 16- and 17-year-olds and their parents obsessing over these ratings, and making bad decisions based on a number." Tech-heavy schools like Cal-Tech moved up based on the job prospects and salaries of their graduates (think Silicon Valley), but what if you want to become an English professor? Then its not No. 1 for you. Kasky didnt begrudge the list its water-cooler value. "Its fun to put this list out, and it sells a lot of magazines," she says. (TIME, for one, has its own version due on Monday.) "But you cant take it too seriously. Cal-Tech is an excellent school. These schools are all excellent schools. But calling one better than the other" Yalies everywhere will be relieved.