College and University Ranking Systems: Global Perspectives and American Challenges

N

64

Lumina Foundation for Education, Indianapolis, IN.

Foreign Countries; Professional Associations; Private Sector; Higher Education; Global Approach; Colleges; Universities; Graduation Rate; School Choice; Enrollment; Decision Making; Surveys

Australia; Canada; China; Germany; Hong Kong; Italy; Poland; Spain; United Kingdom; United States

When U.S. News & World Report began its ranking of American colleges in 1983, publishers in other countries quickly followed with their own hierarchical measures, providing consumer information (and opportunities for institutional marketing) while attempting to impact the quality of higher education. In the course of the last two decades, higher education ranking systems and "league tables" (as they are referred to in the United Kingdom and elsewhere) have emerged in dozens of countries. These rankings are conducted not only by media in the private sector, but also by professional associations and governments. Over the decades since higher education rankings first appeared, numerous debates have surfaced about their methodologies, objectivity, impact on colleges and universities, and role in the structure of accountability within nations that use them. Although there has been significant research, especially in the United States, about the ways in which rankings might be improved, there has been less research on what other countries have been doing and how their ranking systems differ from U.S. rankings. In addition, there has been very little research on how rankings may impact students' access to postsecondary education, their selection of particular colleges, and their paths to graduate from school and/or find employment. The goal for this monograph is to better understand the ways in which ranking systems function and how lessons learned from other countries that use higher education ranking systems might influence similar practices in the United States. Toward this end, this monograph chronicles recent efforts that have brought together rankers and researchers from around the world to study higher education rankings. The monograph includes three papers that were commissioned to examine various perspectives on rankings around the world and lessons they might provide for rankings in the United States: (1) The "U.S. News" College Rankings: A View from the Inside (Alvin P. Sanoff); (2) A Global Survey of Rankings and League Tables (Alex Usher and Massimo Savino); and (3) The Impact of Higher Education Rankings on Student Access, Choice, and Opportunity (Marguerite Clarke). Includes appendix: The Berlin Principles on Ranking of Higher Education Institutions. (Contains 16 notes and 2 tables. Individual papers contain references.) [Jamie P. Merisotis, Alisa F. Cunningham, Arnold M. Kee, Tia T. Gordon, and Lacey H. Leegwater contributed to the introduction and "Next Steps."]

ERIC

2007

ED497028