Forbes ranks Hillsdale
College ranks in the top 100
Whitney Stewart
Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: News
On college ranking lists this year, Hillsdale College scored up and down the board, but even at their worst, the numbers weren't horrible.
In August, Forbes.com and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity ranked Hillsdale 279 of 569 and U.S. News and World Reports ranked Hillsdale 98 of 265 liberal arts colleges. A preliminary listing from Forbes in May named the school 36 out of 94 liberal arts schools.
At its lowest, Hillsdale skimmed just above the midpoint in Forbes' August listing. But 279 still kept it in the top 100 liberal arts schools with regional and national universities excluded - even by applying a slightly different criterion than the May survey, said Richard Vedder, director for the CCAP and an economics professor at Ohio University.
Vedder explained the Forbes list combined all types of higher education because students don't always distinguish among them when considering colleges.
"People consider going to liberal arts colleges or they consider going to universities," he said. "A degree is a degree is a degree, in some respects."
But rankings matter only marginally, said Hillsdale Director of Admissions Jeffrey Lantis, and students should weight their search more heavily with college guides and visits.
"We sent a student to Harvard Law School this year," Lantis said. "What are we? Chopped liver?"
Chopped liver didn't cross freshman Anne Morath's mind when she decided to apply to Hillsdale.
"Mostly I came [to Hillsdale] because of the reputation," she said. "It's nice to see it's high up, but it didn't help me make my decision."
That students don't put much stock in rankings surprises neither Vedder nor Lantis. Both said Hillsdale could well fit into a category of schools with unique characteristics that - for Hillsdale students - center on its conservative tendencies.
U.S. News and World Reports measured colleges based on criteria that, among other factors, included a 25 percent weight on faculty peer assessment and 15 percent on student retention. Vedder thought some of the U.S. News report too subjective, so built the Forbes criteria to include student ratings of professors instead of faculty peer reviews.
In August, Forbes.com and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity ranked Hillsdale 279 of 569 and U.S. News and World Reports ranked Hillsdale 98 of 265 liberal arts colleges. A preliminary listing from Forbes in May named the school 36 out of 94 liberal arts schools.
At its lowest, Hillsdale skimmed just above the midpoint in Forbes' August listing. But 279 still kept it in the top 100 liberal arts schools with regional and national universities excluded - even by applying a slightly different criterion than the May survey, said Richard Vedder, director for the CCAP and an economics professor at Ohio University.
Vedder explained the Forbes list combined all types of higher education because students don't always distinguish among them when considering colleges.
"People consider going to liberal arts colleges or they consider going to universities," he said. "A degree is a degree is a degree, in some respects."
But rankings matter only marginally, said Hillsdale Director of Admissions Jeffrey Lantis, and students should weight their search more heavily with college guides and visits.
"We sent a student to Harvard Law School this year," Lantis said. "What are we? Chopped liver?"
Chopped liver didn't cross freshman Anne Morath's mind when she decided to apply to Hillsdale.
"Mostly I came [to Hillsdale] because of the reputation," she said. "It's nice to see it's high up, but it didn't help me make my decision."
That students don't put much stock in rankings surprises neither Vedder nor Lantis. Both said Hillsdale could well fit into a category of schools with unique characteristics that - for Hillsdale students - center on its conservative tendencies.
U.S. News and World Reports measured colleges based on criteria that, among other factors, included a 25 percent weight on faculty peer assessment and 15 percent on student retention. Vedder thought some of the U.S. News report too subjective, so built the Forbes criteria to include student ratings of professors instead of faculty peer reviews.
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