What goes into a college ranking?
These are questions worth addressing. First of all, consumers should be wary of comparing colleges by means of a ranking system. Since they are largely based on factors such as institutional reputation and the size of the school’s endowment, ranking systems may be difficult to understand and may measure things that do not affect the quality of educational and other resources available to students. Institutions benefit a great deal by how they are ranked, yet some schools have begun to question the ranking systems, even if they have received a high “score”. One obvious failing of a number-ranking system is that no one really knows what it means; that is to say, students need to know specifics such as the average class size or the quality of the Engineering Department, not a number. How do I rank colleges for myself? Many educational consultants suggest that people should enjoy these publicized college rating reports, but NOT make serious decisions about where to attend based solely on r
