The Foreign Service Journal, December 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2014 73 engineering exam. He would have had to pass the same exam at Johns Hopkins (ranked #12), where he also was accepted, but which he rejected due to cost. And at Wyoming, Andrew found a mentor— someone who really cared about him.” Are Rankings Changing? In a 2013 speech at the State Uni- versity of New York-Bu alo, President Barack Obama declared a crisis in college a ordability and the need for restructur- ing, including a new ratings system for colleges based on return on investment. Washington Monthly , which started “alternative” rankings in 2005, immedi- ately welcomed this news as in line with their own philosophy. e trend toward value for money in college ranking indexes is on the upswing. Washington Monthly ’s methodology, for example, favors more public institutions than elite private ones, and applauds colleges like Berea College, which awards every admitted student a scholarship covering tuition. Other college rankings indexes are starting to shift their focus to value of investment, as well. And why shouldn’t they, when college expenses run into the tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars? For that reason and others, choosing a college is generally the rst major deci- sion a young adult makes. And it’s a very personal decision. A short glance over the rankings can be helpful. But you can lose perspective quickly and buy into the too-prevalent idea that an “elite” college is the only worthwhile place for your education. As college strategist Molarsky says, “It’s important to take all these numbers with a big grain of salt, because it’s really impossible to quantify the quality of an education.” n