Quantifying Quality: What Can the U.S. News and World Report Rankings Tell us About the Quality of Higher Education?

Authors

  • Marguerite Clarke Boston College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v10n16.2002

Keywords:

Change, Colleges, Educational Quality, Higher Education, Periodicals

Abstract

Since their first appearance in 1983, the U.S. News and World Report rankings of colleges and graduate schools have generated much discussion and debate, from some declaring them among the best rankings ever published to others describing them as shallow, inaccurate, and even dangerous. The research presented here addresses two of the most common criticisms of the methodology used to produce these rankings. In particular, this study answers the following questions: What is the extent of change in U.S. News' ranking formulas across years and what are the implications for interpreting shifts in a school's rank over time? How precise is the overall score that U.S. News uses to rank schools and what are the implications for assigning schools to discrete ranks? Findings confirm critic's concerns in each of these areas, particularly in relation to the ranking of graduate schools of education. Based on these results, five recommendations are made for improving the interpretability and usefulness of the rankings.

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Author Biography

Marguerite Clarke, Boston College

Marguerite Clarke is an Assistant Professor of Research at Boston College. She has a Ph.D. in educational research, measurement, and evaluation as well as degrees in bilingual/multicultural and elementary education. Her research interests include policy and technical issues surrounding large-scale testing and accountability programs; the impact of testing on teaching and learning; and the relationship between test use and educational opportunity and access for different student populations.

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Published

2002-03-20

How to Cite

Clarke, M. (2002). Quantifying Quality: What Can the U.S. News and World Report Rankings Tell us About the Quality of Higher Education?. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10, 16. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v10n16.2002

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Section

Articles