Designer Rankings

Even liberal arts majors (such as yours truly) can discern the flaws in USNWR's ranking methodology and in the very practice of aggregating discrete data points into conclusive places on a statistical pedestal. However, these flaws do not mean that ranking in and of itself is invalid, but rather that no single methodology can or should claim to hold the ultimate algorithm.

Every entity that hopes to use rankings (prospective students, grad schools, firms, etc.) should decide beforehand what markers of quality they find relevant and seek out a methodology that tailors itself to those elements. In fact, the most useful ranking tool I can imagine would be a database of collegiate statistics that allows the user to create his or her own formula, e.g., 30% peer assessment scores from university presidents, 30% freshman retention rates, 30% top law school placement rates, and 10% selectivity.

The biggest complaint levied against college rankings is that each individual student desires something slightly different from their undergraduate experience (meaning each ranking system inevitably weights some statistic too heavily for one group, and not heavily enough for another). Such a user-customizable algorithm would alleviate that complaint: users could save their algorithms and results for other users, who could vote on how useful they found them. Eventually, the best methodologies for diverse entities could arise from the muck.

Of course, this is all a pipe dream more suited for someone with databasing skills. Until someone manifests my dream site, I personally like to stick with USNWR International Rankings (a preference which derives from my desire to know where those sneaky Grand Ecoles are at any given time): http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-top-400.html

I like this system for three reasons:

1) It details the internal hypocrisy of USNWR.

2) U of M is 19th internationally and 13th nationally. (Who knew?)

And most importantly of all...

3) Notre Dame is 199th. Ouch.