Battle Lines on ‘U.S. News’

Original Article - Colleges against US News ranking

The main problem is still on the data. Graduation rate is good. But... Evaluation scores of the graduates can be a good one. This is like the deliverable in a contract. Grades earned during the process are like progress reports toward the final deliverable. Degree mill won't survive, because they will be questioned on why adequately progressed students shall fail to reach the expected outcome.

Well. I have to agree that Kelly really hadn’t been careful.

As to the suggestion of ranking by ourselves, I really doubt that will happen. Too much politics involved.

The Canadian web site isn’t bad. And it can be done with NCES’s Peer Analysis site which allow public to retrieve raw data.

The main problem is still on the data. We need data that address parents and students’ concern. Graduation rate is good. But like Trinity’s McGuire said, they do provide valuable services in bringing incoming students to a higher level which is recognized by GOOD institutions but is not measured by the graduation rate. Also, as can be foreseen, degree mill can achieving a very high graduation rate!

The question! How can you HELP public understand values in a authoritative and comparable way(You don’t want the degree mill come in and CLAIM their high level of achievement)? You also like to make sure public is not mis-led by the numbers. For example, transfer to MIT is not the same as transfer to University of Nebraska. To me, I will say some evaluation scores of the graduates can be a good one.

For one, it gives parents and students very specific expectation. This expectation is like the deliverable in a contract. Parents and students need look for institutions that provides what they desired.

Institutions, on the other hand, have to select their students carefully( this adds responsibility to students to work hard), since if they can’t bring enrolled students to the promised value, they are in risks of lowing their institution’s reputation.

In this way, when institutions accept students, they agrees that the students are equipped with what is needed for institutions to bring them the agreed-on outcome. Grades earned during the process are like progress reports toward the final deliverable. If students holding acceptable progress, parents will continue to pay the due. Institutions can’t inflate the grades, because if they do, they will be questioned on why adequately progressed students shall fail to reach the expected outcome.