The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

J U N E 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 83 A Different Kind of College Ranking Washington Monthly continues to offer prospective college students and their parents a refreshing alternative to U.S. News & World Report “best” col- lege rankings. The magazine’s “Third Annual College Guide,” issued last Sept- ember, again sorts schools according to what they give to society. Not surprisingly, elite schools don’t perform as well in the Washington Monthly survey. Among last year’s U.S. News top ten, only Stanford shows up in WM’s top ten. And among the Ivies, only Cornell figures in its top 25, thanks to the large number of graduates who earn a Ph.D. or join the Peace Corps. Their “abysmal” record of taking on and graduating poorer students is one of the reasons they don’t do well, reports WM . Three years ago, Washington Month- ly concluded that the public would be better served with more and different types of school rankings. Their annual guide ranks schools by how well they perform as engines of social mobility, as producers of the scientific minds and research that develops new knowledge and drives economic growth, and in promoting an ethic of service. This year, Texas A&M University is number one in WM ’s top 30 national universities, due to a significant level of ROTC enrollment and a generous amount of federal work-study funds devoted to community service. Presby- terian College, a women’s school, is in first place in the top 30 liberal arts col- leges list. And the guide also surveys the country’s best community colleges. You can find the Washington Month- ly Third Annual College Guide online at www2.washingtonmonthly.com/featu res/2007/0709.collegeguide.html. — Susan Maitra, Senior Editor S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT