In an attempt to help students gain deeper perspective into various options for higher education, Forbes.com recently released its first ranking of the country’s top colleges. The University ranked 43rd of 569 schools, according to the Forbes.com report, which seeks to provide an alternative to the annual US News & World Report rankings.
“While US News & World Report tends to measure input and a college’s reputation, our system is different,” said Michael Noer, executive editor of special projects for Forbes.com. “We offer an alternative, measuring how students rate their own educational experiences.”
Noer noted that Forbes.com gathered information from a variety of sources aside from student evaluations for it’s America’s Best Colleges report; it examined information from Web sites such as RateMyProfessors.com and Who’s Who in America. By using such resources Forbes.com hopes to publicize information usually not provided to or considered by students when choosing a college, Noer noted.
“Students only get to choose one college,” Noer said, adding that factors such as graduation rates and the amount of debt students accumulate should be considered as well.
Not everyone agrees with the methods used by Forbes.com, however.
“It’s incredibly difficult to rank universities,” University Assistant Dean of Admissions Greg Roberts said, adding that the subjective measures used by Forbes.com overlooked more important factors that should have been taken into account when evaluating the University and other higher education institutions.
Noer said his company’s rankings measure students’ success upon graduation, while other reports such as the one compiled by US News & World Report analyze information relating to incoming students. This difference makes the Forbes.com rankings more useful and valuable, according to Noer.
The University’s rank made it the only college or university with more than 10,000 students to break the top 50, Noer said.
“U.Va. did very well, being the largest school to rank beyond the median range,” Noer said, adding that the other large state colleges and universities were ranked lower.
Roberts said he appreciates the University’s ranking in Forbes.com’s America’s Best Colleges, but noted that he thinks the rankings are not as valid as those that focus on objective criteria.
Noer emphasized, though, that this difference might be perceived as a beneficial one for prospective students seeking more information about various higher education institutions; the use of subjective issues also might make the Forbes.com rankings more reflective of a university’s true nature.
“We felt it was important to offer an alternative to students,” said Noer. “America’s Best Colleges does that.”
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