IMHO, any history of college rankings that doesn’t include the Cass-Birnbaum college guidebooks (which now that I think of it, tended to be published by edition and not always annually) has missed the mark. I recall the Gourman Report being pretty incomprehensible; no one could figure out what he was basing his research on. And, yes you were most likely to find either or both of them in a library or college guidance counselor’s office.