The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 97 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT R ANKING C OLLEGE R ANKINGS : A H ANDY G UIDE B Y M OHAMMAD A LHINNAWI iven the vast number of colleges and universities in the United States and the importance of higher education, par- ents and students have long sought resources that can help them choose a school that fits their needs. This is espe- cially true for parents working abroad who cannot easily visit prospective schools. A variety of private organizations are trying to meet this need by providing college rankings that evaluate schools on many different criteria, including graduation rates, financial aid and prestige. Here is an overview of the most well-known college rankings covering U.S. and world universities, as well as a brief guide to pursuing a degree online. American Universities The most popular college rankings are compiled by U.S. News & World Report (www.usnews.com/rankings ), which releases a special issue every summer dedicated to the topic. The magazine ranks national universities and liberal arts col- leges based on the SAT scores of incoming students, student- to-faculty ratios and research output, among other factors. Although the vast majority of universities participate in the rankings by providing data on their students and spend- ing — mostly for the extra visibility — these same universi- ties have consistently criticized the U.S. News rankings for having a faulty methodology, which hurts lesser-known schools (usually buried deeper in the rankings) and can have perverse effects. G