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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]"When are we going to finally reject the often preposterous, and immensely harmful, college arms race perpetuated by US News Best College ? "[/b]

Who's "we"?  Go ahead, you first.[/quote]

[b]Obviously just like one person cannot mitigate the pandemic by themselves, one person cannot change the group think about obsessing over US News college rankings that is driving up tuition costs for all students and has misplaced focus on self perpetuating college reputations.[/b][/quote]

sorry, but I think any reasonable person does look at the rankings.  The USNWR ranking definitely has its flaws but I want my kid to go somewhere in the top 30 or so.  If they don't get in, it's not the end of the world obviously, but a lot more doors open when you graduate from one of the better name schools.[/quote]

You are no doubt right (I also want my children to do well in life like everyone else) -/ but the obsession with US News rankings is not healthy and is harming the younger generation - college attendance rates are declining and tuition rates are soaring [b]… SMI and other experts link this in large part to huge costs incurred by colleges to drive up applications even among students with no chance of being admitted and drive down admission rates. At the same time, many classes are taught by poorly paid and overworked adjuncts. Way too much money spent in n marketing and way too little on teaching. [/b]
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yeah, but that's just a general criticism of the higher education business today.  That's due mostly to feckless administrators, don't blame USNWR[/quote]

[b]Did you read the social mobility index post? - they are inextricably linked. Not blaming the US News ranking for the college reputation arms race is like saying don’t blame the kitchen staff for the food being served up …[/b]
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what arms race?  The positions of the top 25 -30 schools haven't changed that much over the years and we all know these ratings are about right. As for social mobility did you know that blacks are actually over-represented at Harvard? [/quote]

You are witnessing it in this thread - endless nitpicking about which schools belong in top 5-10 let alone top 50. Universities are paying exorbitant amounts of money on marketing while engaging in much cost cutting around hiring and paying teachers. Many College professors report they can barely afford basic items and have little job security.

College attendance is doing down and rates of tuition are going way up even though it does not improve the quality of education received.

The college reputation arms race has a direct impact on the ability of the vast majority of our children to gain access to and afford to complete university.

[b]The stats speak for themselves [/b]…[/quote]

?? The costs of college are a whole different subject.  Obviously people are willing to pay, or banks and the government willing to lend.  You don't have to, but don't blame USNWR on this.  Costs will keep going up as long as people are willing to pay.  [Va. resident pretty pleased with U.Va's tuition instate. :D ).
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I am glad things worked out for you/ your kid. Mine is doing fine as well and did/ is doing very well at two public ivies. The public universities are doing much better at educating many first generation/Hispanic/ African American/ military vets than the private colleges. But they are also buying into the rankings nonsense as well and it is not without great cost. My concern is for the younger generation as a whole and for their futures.

Giant hikes in College costs are closely related to College Reputation Rankings wars - please Read to the end - Try to connect the dots: the college reputation arms race is driving huge hikes in tuition fees which is driving student loan defaulting/ lack of access to, and ability to complete, high quality higher education … 
“Student Loan Debt Crisis: In the simplest terms, student borrowers are in crisis due to a rise in average debt and declining average wage values. In other words, a significant portion of indebted college graduates and non-graduate borrowers are unable to repay their debts. As unpaid debts continue to accrue interest, repayment becomes less likely.”

“Americans owe a total of $1.71 trillion in federal and private student loan debt combined.
		Federal student loan debt alone totals $1.57 trillion.
		15% of all American adults report they have outstanding undergraduate student debt.
		12.4% of student loan debt in repayment is delinquent as of March 2020.
		42.9 million federal borrowers and up to 3 million private borrowers owe student loan debt.”

https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-crisis

“The student loan debt growth rate outpaces the rise in tuition costs by 353.8%. 23.6% is the annual growth rate of the total student loan debt balance, or 513% faster than the growth rate of the nation's gross domestic product (3.85%). 94.8% of people with student loan debt borrowed for an undergraduate education.”

Aug 17, 2021

“America’s universities are getting two report cards this year. The first, from the Equality of Opportunity Project, brought the shocking revelation that many top universities, including Princeton and Yale, admit more students from the top 1 percent of earners than the bottom 60 percent combined. The second, from U.S. News and World Report, is due on Tuesday — with Princeton and Yale among the contenders for the top spot in the annual rankings.”

“The two are related: A POLITICO review shows that the criteria used in the U.S. News rankings — a measure so closely followed in the academic world that some colleges have built them into strategic plans — create incentives for schools to favor wealthier students over less wealthy applicants.”

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/top-college-rankings-list-2017-us-news-investigation/

“Brian Rosenberg, president of Macalester College, said he met with U.S. News officials and raised concerns that the rankings incentivize schools to spend more money when the cost of college is already skyrocketing.
“The question I asked was, ‘Doesn’t this seem to run counter to what’s really in the public’s interest?’” he recalled.
“The answer was, ‘Yes, we know it — but we don’t care.’”

Someone has to care to stop the way this college reputation arms race nonsense is harming our children and their futures  … Well connected and well educated DCUM parents could be part of the solution in stead of reinforcing the problem
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No offense, but the rankings haven't changed that much over the years, while the costs have risen exponentially. One has nothing to do with the other. [/quote]

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