The College Rankings Revolt

hoedown
Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:09:10 +0000

For what it is worth, many of the attacks hurled at the USNews --or at the growing commercialism-- seem to imply that having access to MORE information is … unfortunate.



Naturally, people interpret things in different ways, but I have to say that I’ve rarely felt that people who attacked USNews were saying (or implying) that more information was a bad thing.

Rather, the argument they seem to be making (to me) is that some students will weigh information in ways that don’t illuminate the true issues of quality or fit. They may overvalue some of information provided by USNews, without examining why or whether it’s appropriate. They adopt USNews’ value system (deciding what makes a better college) without sufficient consideration of their own values. That concern may be unwarranted, but I think that’s the heart of it. That’s different from advocating that students should have less information.

I also think that some people fear that USNews leads to students gathering LESS information, rather than more. For example, someone who is very driven by USNews’ opinion may have a school recommended to them–but when they see it is ranked by USNews below a certain threshold, they will strike it from their list without ever gathering other information about it.

On a more personal note, I think you’ve got interesting perspectives and am glad you share them, but your ongoing derision of of those of us who work in higher education makes me increasingly uncomfortable. I understand that my comfort is not your concern, but your vitriolic description of the work that my colleagues and I do is a real drag to read, and I feel it is unwarranted (IMHO). Just my $.02.