Monday, December 22, 2003

Fund-Raising Effort Helps Lift a College's Ranking

New York Times

The college in question is Washington University in St. Louis. Check this out:

"It is all part of what Mr. Wrighton, the chancellor, called the push to become 'America's best university' — not to trounce Harvard, necessarily, but because 'there's no reason why America can't have more than one No. 1 institution.'"

Yeah there is: number theory.

This article shows why U.S. News rankings can be so stupid to rely upon. A school that's in the midst of a capital campaign can jump a dozen spots or more, only to nosedive a few years later. Better to just rank a few stats independently, like "most selective schools," "highest average SAT," etc, if you ask me.

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