<p>in fact USNWR present not only an ordinal list, but a cardinal score as well.</p>
<p>IE #18 could have a score of 70 and #19 a score of 69, OR #18 could have a score of 70 and #19 could have a score of only 65. So in theory, assuming you find their criteria and weights meaningful in the first place, you could see how close or how far apart two schools adjacent in the rankings are.</p>
<p>However I think I have NEVER seen anyone refer to the cardinal scores - ONLY to the rankings. I don’t know if its obsession with rankings, or simply innumeracy that drives that.</p>