[ti:Even with Recent Problems, College Rankings Likely to Remain]
[al:Education Report]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2023-01-08]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Students and college advisors agree that there are problems with a popular college ranking system in the United States.
[00:08.41]The magazine U.S. News and World Report produces the rankings.
[00:14.91]At the same time, the critics do not believe the rankings will end anytime soon.
[00:22.28]The list of recent problems related to college rankings is a long one.
[00:28.97]At the start of 2022, Moshe Porat, former leader of the business school at Temple University in Philadelphia, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
[00:43.86]A court had found him guilty of giving false information to U.S. News and World Report that raised his school's ranking. 
[00:54.02]He was also ordered to pay a large financial penalty.
[00:58.89]Over the summer, Columbia University professor Michael Thaddeus said he believed some of the data the university sent to the magazine were incorrect.
[01:11.66]As a result, the university held back its numbers and was not included in U.S. News and World Report's 2023 rankings.
[01:22.31]The publication also removed Columbia from past lists.
[01:27.01]And finally, in autumn, a number of top law schools protested the rankings.
[01:34.17]They restricted some information they sent to the magazine.
[01:39.66]The protesting schools included Yale, Stanford, Harvard and the University of California - Berkeley.
[01:48.36]In all, nine of the top 14 law schools ranked by U.S. News and World Report joined the protest.
[01:58.38]The leaders of the law schools said the magazine does not consider some important information.
[02:06.47]For example, they said the magazine does not show how the schools prepare students for work in public service.
[02:14.94]Heather Gerken is the head of Yale's law school. She called the magazine's product -- ranking schools -- "nearly impossible." 
[02:25.48]She noted that all law schools are different and a "one-size-fits-all" system "cannot provide an accurate picture."
[02:34.98]In early 2023, U.S. News and World Report answered the criticism. 
[02:42.83]The magazine said it would change its system. 
[02:46.85]The rankings would not penalize schools whose graduates moved on to advanced degree programs or important, but low-paying, jobs in public service. 
[02:59.26]In addition, the magazine said it would no longer center so much of its final number on the opinions of law professors, lawyers and judges.
[03:11.15]The law schools, however, continued to say they would not cooperate.
[03:16.77]Heading into 2023, some schools, such as Columbia, will be unranked. 
[03:24.81]Other schools are reconsidering their involvement with rankings. 
[03:29.69]One expert, however, said rankings are still an important way for students to get extra information about colleges.
[03:38.21]Allen Koh is the chief executive at Cardinal Education, a company in Northern California that helps students think about colleges and prepare their applications.
[03:52.04]He said he does not think the protest will affect the reputations of law schools at Yale or Harvard.
[03:59.31]In addition, he said it is unlikely universities will stop their participation in the rankings.
[04:07.26]"For any university that is considered hyper-elite now, it will be considered hyper-elite later. And we don't think that'll change."
[04:18.35]In fact, Koh said he thinks universities will continue to try to get good rankings even though "everybody understands rankings are imperfect."
[04:30.38]He noted that rankings are especially important for international students who cannot visit colleges before deciding to attend.
[04:41.02]"Your ranking - A - helps attract talent. B - instills pride for people who have already graduated.
[04:47.17]The better ranking you have, everyone who's already gone there, their degrees are getting more valuable."
[04:54.04]Koh pointed out that a school's ability to raise money improves as its ranking improves, which permits it to open new buildings and create more programs.
[05:06.13]He called it a "virtuous cycle."
[05:10.31]Sarju Poudel of Nepal recently finished his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Texas-Tyler. 
[05:19.63]Tyler is a city in the eastern part of the state, not far from Louisiana.
[05:25.49]Poudel said the process of choosing a college in the U.S. was "overwhelming."
[05:31.44]But, he said he never considered just a college's rankings.
[05:37.12]He wanted to make sure he received full financial aid at a school that supported computer science, physics and engineering.
[05:47.10]"As long as the programs and university was regionally accredited, it passed my criteria for consideration," he said.
[05:57.25]Now that he has graduated from college in the U.S., Poudel said he thinks higher-ranked schools can sometimes provide better possibilities for their students.
[06:09.77]For example, "high-ranking colleges may indicate availability of more funds, and (therefore) more research and project opportunities."
[06:21.19]Still, when he gives advice to students from Nepal, he said he tells them to ignore rankings.
[06:29.58]He pushes them to explore "their programs, professors' backgrounds, projects and events related to their program and availability of internships."
[06:43.00]Kartik Sundaram of India is finishing an advanced degree at the University of Michigan.
[06:49.57]The first thing he did when thinking about colleges was look up rankings, "just like I would if I was looking to buy a laptop."
[06:58.90]"Did I think they were important? Yes. Do I think they are important now? No."
[07:04.87]The rankings, he said, were good because they gave him a starting point for his research.
[07:10.31]From there, he could look for more details, such as how often students graduate in four years.
[07:18.83]"Because I did not want to pay for a fifth year," he said.
[07:23.49]His advice for international students considering universities to attend?
[07:29.89]"Don't sweat [the rankings] too much," he said, adding, "No matter how much research you do, it's unlikely you'll even get close to half of the whole picture."
[07:42.94]I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Jill Robbins.