Thursday, February 07, 2013

Gilding the lily

U.S. News has gained a lot of credibility and prestige by publishing its annual college rankings.  I'm sure it has helped their revenues.  Some have questioned the accuracy of the data.  In many cases where the 'public' votes for the 'best of', many organizations work hard to make sure they are among the 'best'; however, the work is not done in the field in which they are being rated, it's done by getting out the vote.  Well, it looks like something similar happens with the U.S. News rankings.  Just recently five universities - Bucknell, George Washington, Tulane, Emory, Claremont McKenna - have admitted that they submitted incorrect test scores or overstated the high school rankings of their incoming freshmen.­

Some of the universities assert that there was a flaw in their data collection system; others admit someone cheated.  Gallup conducted a survey of 576 college admissions officers last year.  91% of those surveyed think other colleges had falsely reported standardized test scores and other admissions data.

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