Some colleges will do anything to improve their national ranking. That can be bad for their students-and for higher education.

Since U.S. News & World Report first published a college ranking in 1983, the rankings industry has become a self-appointed judge, declaring winners and losers among America's colleges and universities. In this revealing account, Colin Diver shows how popular rankings have induced college applicants to focus solely on pedigree and prestige, while tempting educators to sacrifice academic integrity for short-term competitive advantage. By forcing colleges into standardized "best-college" hierarchies, he argues, rankings have threatened the institutional diversity, intellectual rigor, and social mobility that is the genius of American higher education.

As a former university administrator who refused to play the game, Diver leads his readers on an engaging journey through the mysteries of college rankings, admissions, financial aid, spending policies, and academic practices. He explains how most dominant college rankings perpetuate views of higher education as a purely consumer good susceptible to unidimensional measures of brand value and prestige. Many rankings, he asserts, also undermine the moral authority of higher education by encouraging various forms of distorted behavior, misrepresentation, and outright cheating by ranked institutions. The recent Varsity Blues admissions scandal, for example, happened in part because affluent parents wanted to get their children into elite schools by any means necessary.

Explaining what is most useful and important in evaluating colleges, Diver offers both college applicants and educators a guide to pursuing their highest academic goals, freed from the siren song of the "best-college" illusion. Ultimately, he reveals how to break ranks with a rankings industry that misleads its consumers, undermines academic values, and perpetuates social inequality.

Some colleges will do anything to improve their national ranking. That can be bad for their students-and for higher education.

About the Author

Colin Diver was formerly the president of Reed College, a trustee of Amherst College, and the dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he is currently the Charles A. Heimbold Jr. Professor of Law and Economics Emeritus.

Reviews
If you are buying a car or a refrigerator, a Consumer Reports-style rankings system works just fine. But, as Diver points out, there is no right answer when it comes to choosing a college-for all the fancy formulas the rankings companies trot out, they offer faux science.
-David Kirp, The Nation
Offers a harsh critique of the rankings industry and its impact on undergraduate colleges and law schools.
-Inside Higher Ed
Breaking Ranks sweeps away whatever shreds of credibility the rankings business retains.
-Michael Thaddeus, CNN
A spirited, often witty critique of the college ranking industry.
-Forbes
Breaking Ranks is more than just an expose: Diver also offers advice on how families can choose schools that are the best match for their aspiring student.17
-Town & Country
A useful primer on the pros and cons of college rankings.
-Washington Monthly
Diver likens 'the homogenizing effect of rankings' on diverse colleges and universities to a Procrustean bed: not a good way to find a fit.He is conversant with all the data, and teases apart superficial measures of, say, graduate indebtedness....If educators cannot ignore the rankings, he advises, at least they can junk worthless peer rankings, resist publicizing illegitimate ones, and make accessible the full range of data on their institutions.
-Harvard Magazine
A lucid and comprehensive critique of the 'rankings industry'.[Diver's] treatment of the topic is superb, and I recommend it to any readers who remain undecided about whether ranking colleges is a good idea.
-Christopher L. Eisgruber, Elsevier Connect
The book is well-structured, [Diver's] arguments are well-built, and his writing style is very accessible....What you might not expect is his honesty....Getting the opportunity to watch a university president think these matters through; to see the rationale that led to them taking a stand, and the impact that taking that stand had on their institution is gold-dust.
-WonkHE
In Breaking Ranks, Diver walks readers through the basics of the ranking industry, its history, its growth, and the distortions that arise as institutions devise strategies to improve their positions, including the temptation to misrepresent their figures....Chapters are short and highly readable.
-Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning
This book could hardly be timelier...This is a highly researched and fascinating book on the manipulative side of higher ed.
-Bookmarked Readers
A well-written, well-referenced book...Diver has written an excellent analysis of how rankings became so powerful and has clearly identified why they are problematic and do not measure what they claim to. He describes why and how rankings have become so pervasive in the US and makes a strong argument for rejecting the rankings industry as it stands. He also proposes some ways of actually measuring the quality of education institutions provide.
-Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication



Book Information
ISBN 9781421443058
Author Colin Diver
Format Hardback
Page Count 368
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 612g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 28mm