The U.S. News & World Report released its college rankings for the 2014-2015 year on Sept. 9, and with them came a drop in Middlebury College’s standing.
Previously fourth among all liberal arts colleges in the country, the College’s ranking has moved to seventh. It now places right behind Pomona and Bowdoin — both tied for fifth — with Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Wellesley respectively taking the first four spots.
According to the U.S. News website, the college ranking formula is based on the following data: undergraduate academic reputation (22.5 percent), student retention (22.5 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (12.5 percent), financial resources (10 percent), graduation rate performance (7.5 percent), and alumni giving rate (5 percent).
“The margins of the difference among the top group of colleges like Middlebury are extremely slight,” said Dean of Admissions Greg Buckles.
“And there are four or five of us that have been changing places with those 4th to 8th slots for years now. Our admissions profile is as strong as it’s ever been, and frankly, while we recognize the value to the public of the USNWR and other rankings, we don’t focus our admissions efforts exclusively on how they will impact such ratings.”
President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz signed a letter in 2008 agreeing not to publicize college rankings in marketing materials.
“Which says a lot about what I and other college leaders think about [rankings],” said Liebowitz.
“It’s nice to be recognized as being a top liberal arts college, but we neither manage the institution to achieve rankings nor believe any methodology captures the essence and strength of any institution. Formulas change from year to year in these kinds of rankings, and the variation in how things are reported (e.g., some schools report only fifty percent of their SAT scores so they are skewed) from one college to another is too great to believe the small differences in ‘overall scores’ among the top schools are all that accurate or significant. Do I think going from tied for 4th (tied for 4/5) to 7th is meaningful? No, not in terms of what it says about the quality of or demand for a Middlebury education—in those areas, we have never been stronger. In terms of selling magazines and providing new fodder for blogs and commentators, maybe.”
