Are college ranking systems legitimate? Do they accurately report data that can be trusted? Do they actually measure the quality of the educational experience at these colleges? Some of the college ranking systems include: U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges Report, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine’s America’s Top Colleges, and Kiplinger’s Best College Values.
Is there a better way to rank colleges? Currently, for many of the college ranking systems the data is self-reported by the institution. This can obviously lead to possible errors, incorrect data being submitted, and universities fabricating data to improve their rankings. These are not simplistic systems, so universities are submitting data that many times comes from different units on campus which can also lead to errors.
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