Insufferable? You ain't seen nothing yet!
Category: College Daze...
Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 10:04 AM [GMT-6]

Bill over at Prairie Point drew my attention to the just-released national college rankings as determined by Washington Monthly. You can download the PDF listing the top 30 national universities if you can't believe what I'm afixin' to tell you: Texas A&M is El Numero Uno.

I like the way the press release describes the purpose behind these rankings, as contrasted with similar (and more controversial) rankings by US News & World Report:

The Washington Monthly's rankings come just weeks after sixty-one liberal arts college presidents announced that they will no longer participate in U.S. News's annual rankings because of what they charge is the magazine's flawed method for measuring academic excellence.

Unlike U.S. News' prestige-focused ranking system, the Washington Monthly rates individual schools based on their tangible contributions to the public interest: on the degree to which they recruit and graduate low-income students; produce PhDs and research; and encourage students to serve in ROTC, the Peace Corps and other service programs. While other guides ask, "what can colleges do for you?" The Washington Monthly asks, "what are colleges doing for the country?"

I take these rankings with a huge grain of salt. And while it's nice to know that we're sending copious quantities of moola to a highly-ranked entity, I hope the university doesn't use the list as an excuse to raise tuition next year!

Nevertheless, I have to admit that this news rates a major "whoop"!

[I can't help wondering how many A&M fans are thinking, "OK, fine; but when will we get to see the football team get the same ranking?!" Gotta have your priorities, right?]

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Comments

I thought you might get a kick out of that.

Posted by: bill at August 22, 2007 08:11 PM

I guess you'll believe anything if you believe that South Carolina State Univ. is #10 Yale is #38 and Rice is #103. :>]

Posted by: Wallace at August 22, 2007 11:00 PM
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