I, and the other undersigned presidents, agree that prospective students
benefit from having as complete information as possible in making their
college choices.
At the same time, we are concerned about the inevitable biases in any
single ranking formula, about the admissions frenzy, and the way in
which rankings can contribute to that frenzy and to a false sense that
educational success or fit can be ranked in a single numerical list.
Since college and ranking agencies should maintain a degree of distance
to ensure objectivity, from now on data we make available to college
guides will be made public via our Web sites rather than be distributed
exclusively to a single entity. Doing so is true to our educational
mission and will allow interested parties to use this information for
their own benefit. If, for example, class size is their focus, they will
have that information. If it is the graduation rate, that will be easy
to find. We welcome suggestions for other information we might also
provide publicly.
We commit not to mention U.S. News or similar rankings in any of our new
publications, since such lists mislead the public into thinking that the
complexities of American higher education can be reduced to one number.
Finally, we encourage all colleges and universities to participate in an
effort to determine how information about our schools might be improved.
As for rankings, we recognize that no degree of protest may make them
soon disappear, and hope, therefore, that further discussion will help
shape them in ways that will press us to move in ever more socially and
educationally useful directions.
Stephen G. Emerson
President
Anthony Marx, Amherst
Elaine Hansen, Bates
Barry Mills, Bowdoin
Nancy Vickers, Bryn Mawr
Robert Oden, Carleton
William D. Adams, Colby
Rebecca Chopp, Colgate
Russell Osgood, Grinnell
Joan Hinde Stewart, Hamilton
Ronald D. Liebowitz, Middlebury
David Oxtoby, Pomona
Alfred Bloom, Swarthmore
James Jones, Trinity
Catharine Hill, Vassar
Kenneth Ruscio, Washington and Lee
Kim Bottomly, Wellesley
Michael S. Roth, Wesleyan
Morton Schapiro, Williams
