The problem with college rankings

by Isabella Kunc staff reporter

Many students enter high school thinking about college. They may begin their college lists sophomore year, refine them throughout their junior year and finally start applying to colleges senior year. But when it comes time to truly pick what to do after high school, there are so many choices it can be hard to know what works best for each student.

Some students choose to take a year off or go straight into the workforce. Others pick between a small, local university or a technical college. A very small number of students decide upon attending a prestigious college, such as Princeton University, which is currently ranked first in U.S. News Best Colleges list.

Because of its ranking, many students might go for Princeton or other highly ranked universities while missing other schools that would better fit the student’s interests and have lower tuition. The outdated system of ranking colleges that leads to such issues not only judges colleges based on arbitrary and biased criteria, but it also produces a sense of superiority in those who get accepted to “top 10” schools. Furthermore, the ranking system only results in more competition and higher tuition because it inflates the demand for a “prestigious” education.

The U.S. News Best Colleges list first came out in 1983 as a ranking tool to help students pick colleges, but over time it has just become a way to judge colleges based on a small and specific criteria list. According to U.S. News, 20% of the rankings of a college are determined by college administrators, which does not measure how well a college performs, but how well others see it.

In addition to inflating the demand of prestigious universities, ranking systems worsen the learning envi- ronment of a school. In order to have their schools receive a higher ranking, some colleges may also choose to only emphasize areas that are specifically judged on the lists, which can have consequences for students. Schools will often cap classes to keep the average class size at a number that will help them rank higher on U.S. News rankings, which can make it harder for students to take those classes.

In addition, since average college-entrance exam scores are a part of the criteria, colleges desire students with higher test scores. This leads to wealthier parents spending more on test prep, which in turn means that wealthier students are more likely to be accepted at top universities. This ends up creating a socioeconomic gap in access to higher ranked schools.

This single vision that people see of what a “good college” is can be harmful in how students pick schools. The ranking system focuses on things like class size and alumni donations, but it is unable to show students what colleges fit them and match their interests, as the ranking system does not take into account a university’s majors or even the quality of education.

Also, the U.S. News rankings leave out specialty undergrad schools that focus on degrees like business, arts or engineering, leaving students who look for “good schools” unable to accurately explore all options. Also, by perpetuating the idea of ranking colleges and pushing for the so-called best ones, people tend to look down on the other perfectly viable options that students can choose.

While college ranking systems can be helpful to students and provide them with more information about potential schools, there are better ways of comparing, not ranking, different colleges. Students at Mounds View can utilize Naviance, a database that provides students with a plethora of information about colleges, careers and other post-secondary programs, and com- pare colleges using filters that sort colleges by criteria relevant to their own interests.

In the end, it is important to realize that college rankings have more drawbacks than benefits. This system might have worked in the past, but with students today having more choices than ever before, the information presented to those students should reflect what will fit them best.