Forbes ranks Hillsdale
College ranks in the top 100
Whitney Stewart
Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: News
Lantis said he thought the subjective parts of both surveys reduced their credibility.
"Peer assessment is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of and the second dumbest thing I've ever heard of is weighting it 25 percent," he said.
Hillsdale ranked second lowest on the U.S. News and World Reports list and Lantis said it most likely reflected other school faculties' dislike of Hillsdale's rejection of federal funds.
"How about Acme School Rater?" he said. "When you rank them, you're saying this school is better than this school based on certain criteria. There are all kinds of ways you can slice it, but objective criteria is better than subjective."
Lantis isn't the only college administrator to consider some aspects of rank lists too subjective. Last year, 61 school presidents withdrew from U.S. News and World Report's rankings altogether, saying the criteria distorted colleges' true value.
As Hillsdale has higher entrance scores than many of the top 100 schools, Lantis said lower rankings don't give a complete picture. He suggested prospective students consult guides like Princeton Review or Barron's All-In-One College Guide.
"How in the world can you look at a school that has an average ACT of 28 and an average SAT of 1940 and say they're not good?" he said. "If you want to go to Harvard Law School, we can get you in. We've done it before. If you want to go work for a Fortune 500 company, we can prepare you. If you want to learn about what it means to be a human being, it's hard to leave here without at least learning that."
"Peer assessment is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of and the second dumbest thing I've ever heard of is weighting it 25 percent," he said.
Hillsdale ranked second lowest on the U.S. News and World Reports list and Lantis said it most likely reflected other school faculties' dislike of Hillsdale's rejection of federal funds.
"How about Acme School Rater?" he said. "When you rank them, you're saying this school is better than this school based on certain criteria. There are all kinds of ways you can slice it, but objective criteria is better than subjective."
Lantis isn't the only college administrator to consider some aspects of rank lists too subjective. Last year, 61 school presidents withdrew from U.S. News and World Report's rankings altogether, saying the criteria distorted colleges' true value.
As Hillsdale has higher entrance scores than many of the top 100 schools, Lantis said lower rankings don't give a complete picture. He suggested prospective students consult guides like Princeton Review or Barron's All-In-One College Guide.
"How in the world can you look at a school that has an average ACT of 28 and an average SAT of 1940 and say they're not good?" he said. "If you want to go to Harvard Law School, we can get you in. We've done it before. If you want to go work for a Fortune 500 company, we can prepare you. If you want to learn about what it means to be a human being, it's hard to leave here without at least learning that."
Be the first to comment on this story