Tuesday was when the U.S. News college rankings came out: Harvard is number one … again. Also, Princeton is second. On a podium bearing a distinct Ivy League bias, Yale is number three. Those are just the national college rankings: Since money is a major part of the list, those in academia tend to criticize it. Some higher education pundits disagree, but the U.S. News Best Colleges 2011 has a matrix numerous can check out when deciding which school will best for them.
Difference between U.S. News and World Report
To rank colleges, the U.S. News report uses a variety of categories schools have been put into. American colleges are separated and rated by Best Colleges 2011 by the highest level of degrees conferred by discipline. The 1,400-plus accredited schools were divided into four main groupings: National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities and Regional Colleges. North, South, Midwest and West are the regions the Regional Universities and Regional Colleges were put into. Each school had data on 16 indicators of academic quality gathered. The total score is how colleges get ranked.
Taking back to the black
You will find many different listings of higher education like the U.S. News and also the World Report college rankings are. Princeton Review offers a comprehensive evaluation of U.S. schools, but the only thing about the Princeton Review list that gets any attention are the Princeton top party schools. The U.S. News Best Colleges 2011 is typically taken more seriously than that. But Lynn O’Shaughnessy at CBS MoneyWatch said the rankings are a joke. The type of learning is not even considered with the U.S. News. Instead U.S. News and World Report is simply conducting a high-stakes beauty contest, where 25 percent of each school’s score is based upon solely on its reputation.
Value as an important factor
U.S. News college rankings have put either Harvard or Princeton in the number 1 spot for 10 years. David Gura at NPR explains that getting on top with college rankings doesn’t matter to most. Colleges are cutting budgets and capping enrollment. There are more individuals eager to apply for school. Getting accepted into college is difficult for many. U.S. News college rankings evaluate schools by academic reputation, graduation, freshman retention, faculty resources, alumni giving and financial resources. But within the increasingly costly world of higher education, finding value is still one of one of the most essential — if not probably the most significant — factors in choosing a school
U.S. News and World Report
colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges
CBS Money Watch
moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/why-us-news-college-rankings-are-a-joke/703/
NPR
npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/08/17/129248940/what-do-best-college-rankings-tell-us?ft=1 and amp;f=103943429 and amp;sc=tw and amp;utm_source=twitterfeed and amp;utm_medium=twitter
