The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

98 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 1 0 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT The rankings certainly have their uses. For instance, the previously obscure George Mason University received a huge spike in interest and donations after U.S. News named it the top “up and coming school” in the country. But critics point out that many schools focus on making changes designed to boost their place on the U.S. News list rather than improving student education. Bill Briggs of MSNBC reports that Clemson University in South Caro- lina artificially inflated faculty salaries and fudged class-size stats to move up in the U.S. News rankings (“Back- lash Builds Against College Rankings,” August 2010). Newsweek ’s college rankings (www. education.newsweek.com/choosing-a- school.html) are based on criteria that are similar to U.S. News & World Report. But Newsweek uses different categories to describe them — like best campus, most diverse or most gay- friendly. Problematically, the News- week rankings cover a relatively small number of schools, so they are less use- ful than other assessments. Other rankings emphasize the stu- dent’s perspective. The Princeton Review ’s rankings (www.princetonre view.com/college-rankings.aspx ) are based primarily on interviews with stu- “Rankings and guides are best used, if you’re going to use them — at the beginning, when you’re starting your college search.” — Tom Nichols, assistant director of admissions at the University of Richmond