Princeton tops magazine’s increasingly criticized list
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, September 6, 2001
By Arlene Levinson
Associated Press
For the second straight year, Princeton University is at the top of the annual campus rankings by U.S. News &World Report, ahead of Harvard and Yale. The list, released Thursday, appears amid growing criticism that it misses the point of college — learning.
The University of Washington came in 45th overall among universities granting doctorates, but 13th among public universities granting doctorates. Washington State University scored in the second tier overall, 53rd or below.
In the top tier of the category of Western universities granting master’s degrees, Gonzaga University ranked third, Pacific Lutheran University, ranked sixth, Whitworth College tied for seventh, Seattle University ranked 10th, Seattle Pacific University ranked 13th, Western Washington University ranked 19th and Walla Walla College tied for 32nd.
Even the No. 1 school said rankings aren’t everything.
"While we appreciate the recognition in these rankings, we don’t put much stock into this particular ranking, or to others like it," Princeton spokeswoman Marilyn Marks said. "There are issues of methodology and subjectivity, and we don’t believe any ranking can capture whether any institution is appropriate for any individual student."
U.S. News counters that the editors’ year-round effort to get the rankings right includes regular consultation with top college officials nationwide. It says complaints from schools are few.
More importantly, consumers understand the list is only a starting point, said Peter Cary, U.S. News special projects editor.
"The hundreds of thousands of people who buy our guidebook are not buying it to find out who’s No. 1," Cary said, "They’re really buying these guidebooks to mine the data, to find out what college is right for them."
The rankings, first presented in 1983, were released on the magazine’s Web site, www.usnews.com. q They’ll also be available in the magazine and a more comprehensive book, "America’s Best Colleges," starting Monday.
Sorting schools into three other categories, the magazine also ranks liberal arts colleges; universities that chiefly offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees; and schools that focus on undergraduates but have high enrollments in professional programs such as nursing and teaching. The last two categories are broken down by region.
Schools are placed into categories, then graded by a numeric formula figuring in such factors as selectivity, class size, faculty salaries, graduation rates and alumni giving.
The biggest part of the equation — 25 percent — is academic reputation. For that, campus executives are asked to rate rival institutions.
U.S. News has looked for ways to quantify how much students actually learn, their satisfaction and results, but has yet to find a workable method, Cary said. Still, he said, "most of the people we talk to believe most of what we’re doing is on the right track."
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