Furman Questioning Validity of College Rankings by U.S. News & World Report
GREENVILLE, S.C.—Furman University is among an influential group of liberal arts colleges that is questioning the validity of the annual college rankings by U.S. News & World Report and developing improved ways of assessing the quality of colleges.
Along with some 80 members of the Annapolis Group, an organization representing the country’s leading liberal arts colleges, Furman announced this week that it would no longer complete the “peer assessment” portion of the magazine’s survey, which is purely subjective and comprises 25 percent of the magazine’s controversial ranking scheme. President David Shi also said the university is among a growing number of colleges that have agreed not to include their U.S. News ranking in any of their promotional material.
In addition, the Annapolis Group announced that it will develop an alternative model for assessing college quality that will focus on the actual educational experience of students rather than general statistical data and subjective “peer” evaluations.
The Annapolis Group gathered for its annual meeting Tuesday in Annapolis, Md., where all but a handful of the presidents in attendance agreed that it was time to take a public stance regarding the U.S. News rankings. Furman is one of 124 colleges and universities that comprise the Annapolis Group.
“Because it’s impossible—and misleading—to assign a precise numerical rank to a college or university, the U.S. News rankings have always been questionable,” Shi said. “The ‘reputation’ portion of the survey is especially misleading since the college officials who fill out the survey listing 215 institutions in the national liberal arts college category are truly familiar with only a handful of other schools. It’s a flawed process, and the Annapolis Group presidents felt the need to make a strong and collective statement about the inherent defects of the rankings.”
As an alternative to the U.S. News rankings, the Annapolis Group announced it would develop detailed information about the actual quality of the educational experience at its member schools to aid students and their families in the college search process. The Web-based initiative will provide easily accessible, comprehensive and quantifiable data.
U.S. News began its annual college rankings of American colleges and universities in 1983. Currently, all schools are evaluated in the areas of peer assessment, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. Those schools in the national liberal arts college category, which includes Furman, are also evaluated on graduation rate performance.