| In the recently released 2008 edition of U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges" issue, American University tied for 85th place among the top national universities.
U.S. News and World Report has been ranking schools for the past 20 years and examines more than 1,400 different schools across the nation. College officials have begun to question the authority of the rankings, and some have argued that U.S. News and World Report was unfair in its rankings and continues to worsen the competition between colleges. Much of the opposition came from a group of colleges belonging to a collection of liberal arts schools known as the Annapolis Group. Most of the issues stem from surveys sent directly to college presidents. These surveys allow the college presidents to make their own schools look incredibly good while putting down other schools. The Annapolis Group decided not to participate, according to USA Today. The clamor over the rankings grew this year, said Danna Walker, a professor in the School of Communication. "There has been a rising tide of complaints that seemed to hit critical mass this year with a group of college presidents urging their schools not to participate in the rankings," she said. "Critics say the rankings don't really measure the real quality of education. U.S. News seems to have responded to some complaints by modifying some of its rankings this year and adding special categories." This year U.S. News and World report changed the way they sort colleges into categories by using the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's classification system. This changed what some categories schools fell under and included for the first time the U.S. military service academies. They also included a new list of schools that are unranked due to the fact they have less than 200 students or are only for transfer students. Walker said she thinks people have relied too much on published college rankings. "I think that a lot of people take the U.S. News rankings as gospel rather than doing a bit of digging on their own," she said. "But the recent criticism hopefully will give parents and students a reason to trust their own investigations into what colleges fit their needs." Maryam Riazian, a junior in the School of Communication, said she believes the rankings should be revised to more accurately portray the academic standings of the school. "The rankings don't mean anything to high school seniors looking at the best match for them, but I think it fits better for their parents," she said. The rankings do matter to parents, said Pat Whitman, a junior in the Kogod School of Business. "But I don't think it matters if they are in a top 100 school," he said. Recently, the Princeton Review released the 2008 edition of its own rankings. The Princeton Review placed more emphasis on student surveys in its rankings, while U.S. News and World Report based its rankings on mathematical calculations and reviews of school policies. This year, AU ranked No. 6 of most politically active schools in the nation. Last year, Princeton Review considered the university to be the most politically active school, The Eagle previously reported. Derek Torrey, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said he didn't think the ranking carried much weight. "We know we're politically active, and we don't need that list to prove it," he said. "Plenty of students here are involved in everything from working on the Hill to campaigning for candidates." They list top party schools and other assorted lists. According to information provided by the Princeton Review, they send out 12,000 surveys to students, and the lists are compiled from the feedback they receive. U.S. News and World Report ranked Georgetown University and George Washington University 23rd and 54th respectively, according to the magazine. |
U.S. News and World Report recently released their college rankings. Here is how AU ranked in various categories:
*Ranked No. 85 overall in U.S. News and World Report annual list. *Ranked No. 6 for politically active campuses by the Princeton Review. *Ranked No. 4 on the list for colleges in the best college towns by the Princeton Review. *Ranked No. 13 on the list for colleges with the best career services. *College Prowler gave AU a C for athletics and a B + for academics. *AU tied with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, N.Y.; North Carolina State University-Raleigh; University of Denver; Iowa State University; and University of Kansas as 85th in U.S. News and World Report rankings. SOURCE: Collegeconfidential.com, princetonreview.com, collegeprowler.com |
