College Rankings: Can't Love 'Em, Can't Leave 'Em

摘要

In this issue of She Ji, Meredith Davis examines college rankings. She provides a brief history of rankings. She summarizes damning scholarly of the indicators, data, and weighting formulas to conclude that the best-known ranking systems rest on debatable foundations. Davis concurs with those who argue that college rankings serve prospective students and their families poorly. To the degree that they rank anything accurately, it is faculty research productivity in STEM fields. As Davis makes clear, faculty research productivity, “reputation,” and the other measures on which college rankings rely do not measure “educational quality.” In fact, many ranking organizations don't even verify the accuracy of their data.