Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSU ranked No. 50 by U.S. News
By Ryan Balton
Posted: 9/4/07, 11:50 PM EST Section: News
"The whole idea of trying to rank colleges on a one-scale system doesn't make much sense," said Vincent Tinto, a professor of higher education at SU.
Colleges have different admissions, goals and cultures, Tinto said. He said U.S. News' rankings do not consider SU's tradition of focusing on professions while providing a liberal arts background, which gives students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, for example, an edge in the workforce.
"Should it be 49th?" Tinto asked of SU's 50th place ranking. "Should it be 51st?"
He calls the rankings a "proxy," saying there is no standard way to measure student development and growth at college.
"We try to find a simple way of doing it," Tinto said, "but it doesn't work that way. People like numbers."
U.S. News' Morse admits the system isn't perfect, but it does provide one "tool" in prospective students' college search process.
U.S. News' data can be valuable to prospective students, Tinto said. But many details are not available on the report's Web site without paying a fee.
"We're not out there saying that our system is the sole basis to judge schools," Morse said. "A misuse of the rankings would be if they become the sole reason for a person's choice."
Emily Dorko, a junior at Delaware Valley High School in Milford, Pa., said she takes the rankings into consideration but doesn't regard them as a primary decision maker.
"Visiting a school gives you a better look at what you're getting into," she said.
Colleges have different admissions, goals and cultures, Tinto said. He said U.S. News' rankings do not consider SU's tradition of focusing on professions while providing a liberal arts background, which gives students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, for example, an edge in the workforce.
"Should it be 49th?" Tinto asked of SU's 50th place ranking. "Should it be 51st?"
He calls the rankings a "proxy," saying there is no standard way to measure student development and growth at college.
"We try to find a simple way of doing it," Tinto said, "but it doesn't work that way. People like numbers."
U.S. News' Morse admits the system isn't perfect, but it does provide one "tool" in prospective students' college search process.
U.S. News' data can be valuable to prospective students, Tinto said. But many details are not available on the report's Web site without paying a fee.
"We're not out there saying that our system is the sole basis to judge schools," Morse said. "A misuse of the rankings would be if they become the sole reason for a person's choice."
Emily Dorko, a junior at Delaware Valley High School in Milford, Pa., said she takes the rankings into consideration but doesn't regard them as a primary decision maker.
"Visiting a school gives you a better look at what you're getting into," she said.
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