We're Thinking About College Rankings All Wrong

"The U.S. News ranking isn't a goblet of fire from which colleges are cryptically chosen. It claims to base its choices on 17 different categories, including retention rates, financial resources, and standardized test scores. Most universities send in their own data, but statistics from the US Department of Education are also taken into account. In the 19th century, it was initially the responsibility of the Bureau of Education-the Department's predecessor-to publish annual reports ranking institutions of higher education. That practice ended in 1890."

"In 1983, U.S. News published its first college ranking. For nearly 45 years, the list has shaped the perception of higher education as we know it, impacting application rates, enrollment rates, and marketing efforts by universities. For the past eight years, my school UCLA has been leveraging its "#1 public research university" rank placed upon it by U.S. News, publicizing it through banners on campus and online posts to boost applicant appeal (this year UCLA moved to number 2, falling short to UC Berkeley)."

"StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If you're a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected].The ostensible arbiter of college rankings- U.S. News and World Report -has released its annual list of the top institutions of higher education. The 2026 report is predictable, with minor changes, ranking elite Ivy League schools like Princeton and Harvard in their top five."

U.S. News and World Report released its 2026 college rankings, placing elite Ivy League schools such as Princeton and Harvard among the top five. The ranking methodology uses 17 categories, including retention rates, financial resources, and standardized test scores, and combines university-submitted data with statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. Government publication of institutional rankings by the Bureau of Education ended in 1890; U.S. News published its first college ranking in 1983. For nearly 45 years the list has shaped perceptions of higher education, affecting application and enrollment rates and prompting targeted university marketing. Some observers question whether producing a hierarchical ranking serves the public interest.

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