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IWU protests how U.S. News' annual rankings add up
By Michele Steinbacher
msteinbacher@pantagraph.com
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BLOOMINGTON — Area college and university leaders are pleased U.S. News and World Report rankings released today continue to recognize their schools, but they aren’t happy with a key factor in how the ratings are determined.

Some Central Illinois college administrators, especially those at Illinois Wesleyan University, are formally protesting one category — assessment by peer institutions — that makes up a quarter of each institution’s score.

IWU in Bloomington and Illinois State University in Normal stayed about the same in the rankings compared to last year, but they showed improvements in some categories.

Eureka College moved up significantly in its peer category, and Lincoln College’s Normal campus appears on the list for the first time this year.

IWU President Dick Wilson decries the so-called peer assessment segment of the U.S. News score as nothing more than a popularity contest.

“This popularity poll asks presidents like myself to rate the quality of 266 liberal arts institutions across the country, many of which we have little or no firsthand knowledge,” Wilson said in a released statement.

The Bloomington campus is not alone. Sixty-two U.S. college presidents have agreed to quit taking part in U.S. News’ rankings surveys, mostly because of the weight given to the reputation rating.

But so far no liberal arts colleges ranked higher than No. 30 on last year’s list has signed on, nor have any of the top 100 universities.

Interviews by The Associated Press with top officials at about a dozen elite colleges confirm a fault line in the rankings debate that’s more than coincidence. AP found educators everywhere don’t like to see colleges ranked like basketball teams, but it irks educators at the top-ranked colleges a lot less.

This opinion-based score can significantly skew the rankings, Wilson said.

Wilson said IWU no longer will participate in the peer-assessment survey for that reason.

Next fall, IWU instead will join others in taking part in the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities effort to provide a Web-based data system for prospective students.

Brian Kelly, editor of U.S. News, says the protesters have it all wrong — the publicity from appearing in the rankings at all is good for their colleges.

And he says the efforts to develop an alternative system to get students information about colleges misses the point: Ample college data is available. What people need is analysis.

“If you look at the way people buy cars, refrigerators, the health-care plans we rank, or hospitals, consumers are hungry for hard data they can use,’’ Kelly said. “But you can’t just give people just lumps of data. You have to help them sort their way through it.”

But area campus leaders say the popularity factor is too big a part of the overall score. Instead, campus leaders urge students considering what college to attend to broaden their approach.

“The rankings don’t get to the essence of a campus — the special programs, the atmosphere. We want prospective students to come and talk to our faculty, look at our graduation and retention rates, class sizes,” said Beth Cunningham, IWU provost and dean of the faculty.

ISU President Al Bowman said he believes national universities might not be far behind the liberal arts colleges’ organized protest. He’s not a big fan of peer assessment and agrees with Wilson’s criticism of judging others.

Having to give more than 200 national universities a 1 to 5 score isn’t an accurate way to judge schools. “It’s well known they are a flawed measure of a university’s worth,” he said.

Bowman said better indicators are the hard data numbers. Students and parents should look at factors such as class size, how many full-time professors teach at a school, and how many people stay into the sophomore year, he said.

Eureka’s leader also understands the outcry against the U.S. News rankings as being unfair.

“The public is hungry for some kind of more accurate measurement. But so far, there hasn’t been a good alternative,” Eureka President David Arnold said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Reader comments on this story - 5 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

FYI wrote on Aug 17, 2007 12:40 PM:

" It's funny how IWU used their #1 ranking to 'woo' me into attending. I stayed 2 years, and went to ISU...you just can't do some sciences w/o current equipment. I wish they would've had the new science building and it's newer equipment when I went there; would've stayed. There were many interesting people there, and I met someone from almost every country in the world there...including the son of the leader of Hamas, Arafats great nephew. "

Reputation is Important wrote on Aug 17, 2007 11:47 AM:

" In the job market, a graduate from a college with a good reputation has the upper hand on a graduate from a lesser known university. For this reason, I believe reputation is an important aspect for incoming students to consider and should be kept in the rankings in one form or another. "

These rankings wrote on Aug 17, 2007 11:35 AM:

" are WORTHLESS. Don't buy into them. T "

IWU Family wrote on Aug 17, 2007 9:19 AM:

" I had a daughter graduate from IWU and can't say enough about what an amazing university it is. Finding a job after graduation has been so easy because of simply attending that university. If your child is above the norm academically......I really suggest looking into IWU. I think the point OGS missed was why take part in something that is based on popularity. Everything I saw at IWU encouraged students to be themselves no matter how odd or how unpopular. I applaude you for standing up for what you believe in. "

OGS Who is this guy kidding? wrote on Aug 17, 2007 1:35 AM:

" ...unfortunately most of lifr IS a poplarity contest. Especially right out of high school. "
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