<p>bluebayou,
Not sure what you are looking for, but accepting the idea that endowment (do you mean the Financial Resources rank because I think that is something different?) and alumni are legitimate factors to measure, then why not? If, over a few years, a school takes its alumni giving from 20% to 30% (which would result in jumping from about 62 to about 25 in the USNWR Alumni Giving ranks), then this is seen and understood by anyone. You may want to argue about whether this is a valid metric or if the way it is measured (participation rate vs $ dollars given) is the best method, but this is at least visible, objective and quantifiable. </p>
<p>The main difference between PA and these objective measures is that if you set the bar on the objective data, everyone can see it and schools can shoot to reach or exceed it. For PA, there is no bar and no matter what happens, it is unclear how a college goes about achieving a higher score. It is all left to the whims of academic administrators (who are not identified as having voted or not and how they voted).</p>