College Ratings: How Helpful Are They?

 

Lists that rate colleges and universities are very popular among parents and students in the United States.

But are published lists the best way to choose the right school?

The best known ranking is probably by the magazine U.S. News & World Report. On top of the magazine’s list this year are schools known around the world. They include Princeton University in New Jersey¹, Harvard University in Massachusetts, Columbia University in New York City, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, The University of Chicago and Yale University in Connecticut.

U.S. News & World Report published its first “America’s Best Colleges” report in 1983. Since then, some educators have questioned the published rankings and how useful they are.

Education a costly² investment in the future

A number of magazines publish lists of college rankings once every year. High school students use the lists as reference guides when considering where to continue their education. There are plenty of schools to choose from. Across the country, more than 4,000 colleges and universities offer undergraduate degree programs.

Last month, Forbes published its college ratings for 2019. It listed 650 schools. That represents only about 15 percent of all U.S. institutions of higher learning.

The magazine’s top five are a little different from those of U.S. News & World Report. They are: Harvard University, Stanford University in California, Yale University, MIT and Princeton University.

Like other lists, Forbes considers things like student satisfaction, how successful college graduates are and how much money they make. The magazine adds another important piece of information: how much debt students will owe after they graduate.

What some experts say about college rankings

We spoke³ with education experts and people whose job it is to help high school students choose the right college. All of them said students and parents should look at more than just rankings because they do not tell the whole story about a school.

Ray Anderson of Virginia is a former high school principal. He now works with a service called AGM-College Advisors⁵. It provides guidance on higher education to students and their families.

Anderson says what is most important to him is knowing what the student wants, likes and is capable of doing.

“The focus is on who you are, and then what schools match you,” Anderson said, “not matching you to the school.”

Anderson told VOA the published rankings can help because they have valuable information about the schools.

Jeffrey Stahl agrees that rankings have limited value. In his job as a counselor⁶ at Yorktown High School in Virginia, he talks with students about colleges.

Stahl says choosing a college is a very personal decision. He said that the rankings “can be helpful,” but some students place too much attention on the name of a school and its position in rankings.

“So much about the campus environment, students, professors, cannot be shown just by ranking,” Stahl said. He suggests that families use the ranking information as a starting point. Then, they should widen their search, make their own list, and go see the colleges for themselves.

But David Hawkins is critical of the college rankings. He is with the National Association for College Admission Counseling. He told VOA that rankings “are not mathematically proven to measure the quality of any single college, much less to provide comparisons between colleges.”

Hawkins said lower ranked schools may have difficulty getting students interested in their programs.

“As such,” he said, “the rankings have been known to create ethical⁷ problems, as institutions misreport data or otherwise seek to manipulate their ranking.” Like the other experts we spoke with, he said students must look past those ratings to a gain a more factual opinion about the schools for themselves.

In July, U.S. News & World Report “de-ranked” five institutions from its list for misreporting information. Because of this, the magazine said, their ranking number was “higher than they otherwise would have been.”

The five included the well-known University of California at Berkeley.

Hawkins noted⁸ that people overseas might think the rankings come from the U.S. government. That is not true, he notes. “We try to emphasize that these are commercial publications, rather than ‘official’ rankings of any sort.”

Richard DeMillo heads the Center for 21st Century Universities at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also is a professor at Georgia Tech — a school that moved up 13 positions on Forbes’ latest list.

DeMillo says, while the higher rank is “nice, it does not matter.” He believes that Forbes, U.S. News & World Report and other publications are providing a service, “if you ignore the ranking part of it.”

For example, he finds the information about all the study programs to be useful. The ratings sometimes list lesser-known schools that might be strong in a field of study that a student is interested in.

All the experts VOA spoke with had similar advice for students looking for the right college. Go visit the school, talk to the admissions officers and talk with current students.

“There are so many hidden gems¹⁰ out there!” Jeffrey Stahl said. “Just because a college doesn’t make the “list” doesn’t mean it doesn’t have great programs and resources!”

I’m Anne Ball.

And I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

degree – n. an official document or award that is given to someone who has successfully completed a study program

graduate – n. a person who has earned a degree from a school, college, or university

principal – n. the top administrator¹¹ at a school

focus – n. a subject that is being discussed or studied

match – v. to bring together

counselor – n. a person who provides advice as a job; an advisor⁴

ethical – adj. involving questions of right and wrong behavior; relating to morals

manipulate – v. to use or change in a skillful way or for a particular purpose

commercial – adj. relating to business

gem⁹ – n. something that is known for its beauty or excellence

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

6 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

7 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。

10 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

11 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。