Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 3, 1992 TAG: 9201030099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FOR COLLEGES, RATINGS GUIDES NECESSARY EVIL
Even administrators at schools that top the annual lists of good colleges scoff at the rankings as simplistic gimmicks that compare apples and oranges.But those schools still participate in the surveys sent by news magazines to compile the lists.
At least three national magazines - U.S. News & World Report, Money and Kiplinger's Personal Finance - print end-of-year rankings of U.S. colleges.
The ratings, which offer the only comprehensive way for applicants to compare colleges, have meant big business for the magazines and big publicity for the highly rated schools. And college-bound students increasingly turn to the lists for help in picking a school.
"There is really no such thing as the best college in the United States," said Julia Kozak, associate admissions director at Washington and Lee, which U.S. News called the best buy among the country's small liberal-arts schools.
But "as much as we deplore them, there's no question these ratings help. People look at them and say: `You must be wonderful,' " she said.
John Blackburn, admissions dean at the University of Virginia, recalled a visit in 1990 from the president of Spain's University of Valencia.
"The first thing he said was, `You're very good. I read about you in the ratings,' " Blackburn said. UVa was ranked No. 4 in the country by Money last year and No. 21 by U.S. News.
"When you're in a recession, you want to trot out every piece of doggone support you can," said Tom Goodale, vice president for student affairs at Virginia Tech, which was ranked by Money as the 60th best buy out of 100 schools.
For the magazines, the ratings are a sure hit. Aside from Desert Storm-related covers, the ratings issue was the top seller for U.S. News last year, senior editor Robert Morse said.
The lists are based on factors including library books, Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, graduation rates and - in the case of U.S. News - the opinions of rival college administrators.
Vernon Beitzel, admissions director at Radford University, said he doesn't understand why Radford, ranked No. 33 by Money in 1990, fell off the list. "The way they rate them is very arbitrary," he said.
He is tempted not to return this year's questionnaires, but he knows he has to: "Most people in admissions think the ratings are not the healthiest thing, but if they're going to do it, we want to be a part of it."