The metrics used by US News are meaningful, but not to a hair-splitting extent. Yes, I believe that alumni giving rate does have some relationship to alumni satisfaction -- but no, I'm not too excited about the difference between a school that is ranked #2 (Amherst) vs. a school that is "only" ranked #9 (Swarthmore). Given that there are 248 National LACs, both schools rank above the 95th percentile overall, and so I regard both schools as excellent as far as this particular metric goes.
Over on the National University side, the "alumni giving" rate gap is even larger (14 points) between #2 Duke and #9 Stanford. Is this really a difference that you would be concerned about if you happened to be choosing between these two (fine) schools ?
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The Swarthmoreans I know wouldn't have more school spirit if they had more sports teams to not watch, not play on, and not care about
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Yes, that's the point. The schools with the highest alumni giving rates tend to be those with lots of interest/participation in sports and spirited, pep-rally attitudes towards their alma maters.
And I simply don't think Swarthmore attracts that kind of personality (in fact, you seem to be a case in point). This may not help the school in terms of fund-raising (think of the annual fundraising campaign as a kind of pep rally), but may make it a more interesting place in other ways.