The Foreign Service Journal, December 2009

W ashington Monthly ’s 2009 “College Guide” presents this pioneering ranking sys- tem for post-secondary educational institutions in a new format, including a lively blog and feature articles note- worthy education topics (www.wash ingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/ind ex.php). “While other guides ask what col- leges can do for students, we ask what colleges are doing for the country,” the WM editors stated in the introduction to their 2005 inaugural guide. This valuable alternative to the traditional “best” college rankings issued annual- ly by U.S. News & World Report and other organizations ranks schools on the basis of three criteria: social mobil- ity, research and service. How does a school measure up as an engine of social mobility, as a pro- ducer of the scientific minds and research that develop new knowledge and drive economic growth, and as a promoter of an ethic of service? The 2009 guide has an introductory narrative on the findings and informa- tion on the methodology used. Among the highlights from the 2009 rankings: • While all of the top 20 U.S. News universities are private, as are nearly all its top colleges, 13 of WM ’s top 20 universities are taxpayer-funded, with the University of California’s Berkeley heading the list. • Several world-class private insti- tutions like Princeton, Duke and Penn were ranked 28th, 33rd and 59th, respectively. They were all beaten out by South Carolina State University, where 71 percent of students qualify for Pell Grants and an uncommonly large number participate in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. • Washington University in St. Louis is famous in higher education circles for aggressive marketing tac- tics, driving up applications and bring- ing it to number 12 on the U.S. News list. WM ’s ranking tells a different story — it is 99th and dropping from previous years. • U.S. News sticks minority-serving colleges like Louisiana’s Dillard Uni- versity and Tennessee’s Fisk Univer- sity in its lowly “third tier,” but WM ranks them in the top 50 because they enroll many low-income students and — relative to other colleges with simi- lar student profiles — help many of them earn degrees. • Berea College — a small institu- tion in Kentucky founded by aboli- tionists as an integrated, coeducational college that charges no tuition and is dedicated to helping first-generation college students — ranks 12th in the WM listing. Curiously, U.S. News rel- egated it to Tier 3. ■ — Susan Brady Maitra, Senior Editor 96 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT 2009 C OLLEGE R ANKINGS : S ERVING THE N ATION