Summary
On September 24, 2024, U.S. News & World Report released its Best Colleges rankings for 2025, which work as a tool for helping applicants understand the academic quality of various educational programs.
The college rankings have sparked attention and discussions worldwide. Although they effectively disclose comparative information about the evaluation of college achievements, they have also received much criticism. Some critics point out that some quantitative methods they use are not fully considered, which can mislead and misinform the students. While others notice the differences in educational backgrounds among different countries and regions under this unified ranking.
Analysis
College rankings are no longer considered an important factor when choosing schools. Two articles, one from Forbes and another from Bendi News, both critique the college rankings but present different perspectives on this topic.
The Forbes article written by Daniel Diermeier, the chancellor of Vanderbilt University, criticizes the misleading impact of college rankings on students and institutions. He states that these rankings are often inaccurate and can lead to unfitted decision-making. Diermeier advocates for switching the flawed ranking system to a rating system that focusing on information disclosure.
Zhou addresses the position of Chinese higher education institutions within international rankings in the second article. Zhou highlights the competitive pressures that these institutions face in a globalized context. The author critiques the existing ranking systems, arguing that they are inadequate and call on people to make choices based on their own situation
These articles have different focus points. Diermeier mainly focuses on the misinforming effects, indicating that these rankings cannot truly reflect the quality of education. However, Zhou pays attention to how Chinese people and universities should view and react to college rankings.
To support their perspectives, they both give examples based on the facts related to the authors. For instance, Diermeier questions basing graduate indebtedness solely on those who receive federal aid and states that universities like Vanderbilt enable low-income students to attend for free. This is his criticism of the rankings, as well as an argument and defense of the university he works for. As for Zhou, by stating that the ranks of two unknown universities surpass the top two universities of Peking and Tsinghua in mathematics through exploiting the flaws in the ranking methods, he vividly explains the lack of credibility of college rankings to the Chinese readers who are well aware of the influence of the top two universities.
It is also a fun fact that both the articles use analogy to elaborate on their opinions. Diermeier compares the idea of choosing schools with the new educational rating system to purchasing a car, proving the importance of personal preference. While Zhou compares the college rankings to the Michelin restaurant guide, stating that we cannot ignore their basic significance of guidance when people are confused. The difference also shows the attitudes of the two authors, which is absolute opposition for Diermeier and partial agreement for Zhou.
When it comes to the tones and languages, Diermeier is straightforward and critical using formal and academic language with proof and evidence, which have connections with his position in higher education. There are extremely strong words such as “firmly disagree” in his article, expressing his firm attitude and call of making changes to other educators. However, Zhou is more reflective and concerned. As an author for the magazine, Zhou writes from the perspective of a common citizen, empathizing with a large group of potential readers with accessible language.
Frankly speaking, I basically agree with the viewpoints of these two articles. I support that students should definitely not consider the college rankings as the only basis while selecting schools, and the ranking itself needs adjustments to be more reflective and objective. As an international student, I need college rankings as a source of information when deciding to study abroad, hence resonating more with Zhou in this regard. Also, I suggest that more humanistic care is needed rather than a better rating system.
Sources:
[1] Diermeier, D. (2024, September 24). College rankings mislead students; universities should abandon them. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danieldiermeier/2024/09/24/college-rankings-mislead-students-universities-should-abandon-them/
[2] 维舟. (2024, May 11). 顶尖大学退出世界排名，中国学生为何陷入“排名信仰”？. Bendi News.
Zhou, W. (2024, May 11). Top universities drop out of world college rankings: why are Chinese students trapped in a “ranking faith”?. Bendi News.
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