On Sept. 23, U.S. News & World Report released its annual, always controversial ranking of the top national universities. Once again, high schoolers applying to colleges, parents and current students are discussing how the schools’ rankings have changed. UNC dropped five spots, from 22nd to 27th. While U.S. News does not reveal all of the details of how they rank institutions, people should stop placing so much importance on them. These rankings do not accurately reflect the true value of our school.
U.S. News determines its annual college rankings based on 17 key indicators that assess academic quality and student outcomes, with the most significant factors including graduation rates, peer assessments, financial resources and faculty salaries. These indicators are weighted differently to reflect their importance. Standardized test scores, first-year retention rates and graduation rate performance also contribute to the rankings. Additionally, other campus events — the removal of DEI from the UNC System chief among them — could have impacted the score.
The purpose of ranking is to see which universities are performing well in certain areas at a given time, but they don’t capture the full picture.
Instead of relying on rankings, students should evaluate schools based on their individual priorities, such as how well a school supports their specific academic interests, provides research opportunities or fosters a sense of belonging. In other words, choosing a school should be a more personalized process, where factors like student engagement, campus diversity and how well a university helps students develop as individuals are considered just as important as national rankings.
For example, factors like financial resources or alumni donations, which weigh heavily, don't necessarily align with the academic rigor or the passion of the student body. Financial resources shouldn’t be a major factor because they can sometimes reflect an institution’s fundraising prowess rather than its academic quality or student experience.
A school’s true value should be based on the intellectual curiosity of its students, the dedication of its faculty and the opportunities it provides for personal and academic growth. Rankings should also consider things like campus culture, student satisfaction and how well the university fosters innovation or prepares students for real-world challenges. These evaluators are probably not as familiar with the culture around our sports programs or how Franklin Street is basically one of the best food streets around.
Moreover, rankings often fail to take into account the diversity and uniqueness of programs. At UNC, our vibrant student culture, strong commitment to public service and sense of community are qualities that can’t be fully captured by a numerical score.
Rankings are not always the best way to categorize schools. Implementing a tier system would be a better indicator of a college’s overall quality and fit for different students. Instead of fixating on small shifts in numerical rankings, a tier system would group universities with similar strengths, academic excellence and opportunities.
This allows prospective students and families to focus on finding a school that aligns with their personal needs, rather than worrying about arbitrary shifts in ranking positions. It would also highlight the unique strengths of each institution, rather than reducing their value to a single number.
