Perennial contenders Harvard and Princeton share the top spot in the latest edition of the influential U.S. News & World Report university rankings. Williams heads the list of liberal arts colleges, while Dartmouth wins a new category ranking commitment to undergraduate teaching.
The latest edition of the contentious but closely followed “America’s Best Colleges” appears today online and in print.
Last year, Princeton surrendered the top spot to Harvard after eight consescutive years at least tied for No. 1. This year, the Ivy League rivals are followed by No. 3 Yale and a four-way tie for No. 4: Cal Tech, MIT, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania.
The ranking formula takes account of factors such as SAT scores, peer reputation, selectivity and alumni giving.
As usual, there are few major moves up or down among colleges this year, but the rankings remain a hot topic of debate among educators. While few openly embrace the idea of numerically ranking colleges, some call the rankings a helpful consumer tool. But many others consider the practice harmful for students and colleges.
Critics argue rankings pressure colleges to focus on boosting their scores in various categories, instead of improving their teaching. That debate was reignited earlier this year when a former Clemson University administrator described the school’s coordinated efforts to move up the list.
There are also charges of gaming the system. Clemson’s president acknowledged he ranked his own school higher than any other university when he responded to the magazine’s peer review questionnaire.
Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado at Boulder tied for 77th place, while the University of Denver ranked 84th and Colorado State University was 128th.
Colorado College was ranked 24th among liberal arts schools.
The Air Force Academy was ranked No. 1 in the West for schools’ commitment to undergraduate education.
