Ranking What Matters

With an increasing emphasis on raising the national college graduation rate as more students flood colleges and universities, it is worth asking how we determine which colleges and universities are the best so as not only to help students select schools but also to channel public resources to the schools that are producing the most meaningful results. In other words, what can schools do for students and the greater society, and how can we measure the value they add?

The U.S. News and World Report has historically published rankings of colleges and universities, but now, The Washington Monthly is arguing that we must begin to emphasize factors like social mobility, research, and public service as the indicators of good schools rather than factors like alumni donations, professor salaries, and class sizes--factors that clearly put Ivy League and other private schools at the top of the charts. Under this alternative ranking system, the creators aim to reveal and hold universities accountable for how much learning is occurring and how big the return on investment is not just from tuition dollars but also from public subsidies.

1. Social Mobility: This factor tells us not just whether a university can attract the economically elite but whether a university can take lower-to-middle income students and actually move them up the socioeconomic ladder once they have graduated.

2. Research: The Washington Monthly scale also is founded on the idea that universities should be able to graduate students who will go on to obtain PhDs with the ultimate goal of fueling economic growth via that research.

3. Service: Finally, the alternative ranking system is based on the premise that more engaged students are not only more academically successful but also that they are giving back to society.

"We all benefit when colleges produce groundbreaking research that drives economic growth, when they offer students from low-income families the path to a better life, and when they shape the character of future leaders," the editors argue.

You shared on the first day of class that education should be practical, engaging, challenging, informative, and relevant. What would your ranking system for universities look like? Would it be more similar to the system of The U.S. News and World Report or to that of The Washington Monthly? How would we determine if you, the students, were really getting the most bang for your buck and work to increase that value?