University rankings vary by criteria

Princeton once again topped U.S. News and World Report's undergraduate rankings for research universities this year, tying Harvard for first place. But in the same month's issue of The Washington Monthly, a policy-oriented magazine, Princeton ranks 44th among universities, putting it behind large public universities such as Iowa State.

University administrators dismissed the rankings, faulting the magazine's methodology. "These rankings received very little press attention, in part, I suspect, because the methodology was so indefensible," Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee '69 said in an email. "We would not want to give them any more attention than they have already received."

The University mostly fell behind in the categories of "national service" and "social mobility," according to The Washington Monthly, which sought to "measure academic excellence — as opposed to, say, academic reputation."

The rankings are based on statistics like the percentage of students in military officer training and the percentage of students on federal Pell Grants.

Also factoring are the achievements of universities' graduate schools, such as the number of doctorates granted in the hard sciences. The article accompanying the rankings said that scientific research is important because it is "indirectly responsible for much of our national wealth and prosperity."

Durkee pointed out that Princeton contributes in different ways than those measured by the report. "What The Monthly does not measure are other important forms of service to the nation," he wrote in a letter to The Washington Monthly. "Like Princeton, most [other universities] do a much better job than the measures used by The Washington Monthly would suggest."

Durkee used community service as an example.

"While it is perfectly fine to use work-study funds to pay students to perform community service (which is what The Monthly measures), Princeton traditionally has thought of community service as a volunteer activity," Durkee wrote. "More than a quarter of Princeton's undergraduates engage in community service each year, but this isn't considered in the rankings."

USG President Leslie-Bernard Joseph '06 said that though the Washington Monthly has many valid criticisms, much of what the magazine takes fault with, such as the relative lack of low-income students at the University, is slowly being addressed.

"Washington Monthly's methodology is a bit questionable, but then again, so is U.S. News'," Joseph said in an email. "We can't be content with just being an academic powerhouse; our education has to be tied to a sense of purpose and larger commitment to serving the world."

Joseph pointed to the University's recent changes to the financial aid package for undergraduates. "I think the University has made tremendous strides with the no-loan policy, especially in increasing the amount of students on financial aid. But there's still work to be done," Joseph said.

The definition of national service that The Washington Monthly uses may be different from that of the University and its students, said Asheesh Siddique '07, editor-in-chief of a liberal publication on campus, who has exchanged emails with an editor at The Monthly about what he said were methodological problems.

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"The Washington Monthly's core assumption is that universities have control over what you do when you graduate," Siddique said. "It's actually up to you. You could even argue that what investment bankers do actually does serve the nation."

"They have a very arbitrary definition of national service that can be an elitist one," Siddique said, referring to choosing between a lower-paying job in the foreign service or a higher-paying one in the private sector. "It may actually discriminate against someone who's financially disadvantaged."

This has not been the first time there has been concern about the post-graduation plans of University students. The Robertson Family Foundation last year filed a lawsuit against the Wilson School, partially based on allegations that not enough of the Foundation's $550 million endowment has been used to help Wilson School graduates go into public service.

Though Francis Schendle '06, president of the Princeton College Democrats, agreed that universities should do more to encourage their students to serve the public, she said the Washington Monthly's rankings don't account for some of the most important ways in which University students engage themselves.

"We have programs like Princeton in Africa and Princeton in Asia that are like our very own Peace Corps programs," Schendle said. "Students who go into public service don't just go do [the service activities that the Washington Monthly rankings measured]."

Unlike The Washington Monthly, U.S. News ranked Princeton first in a system based on a "peer assessment survey" that asks top administrators at universities to rank other institutions. This reputation survey, which has been controversial in the past, accounts for one fourth of a school's rating. Another controversial part of the U.S. News rankings has been the focus on a school's financial resources and alumni donations, which together account for 15 percent of a school's rating.

The University has also cautioned against putting too much stock in rankings. "While formulaic rankings can never provide an accurate reflection of whether a university may be the best choice for a student, it is gratifying that Princeton continues to be recognized for the quality of the undergraduate experience we offer," said a University statement released last month in response to the U.S. News rankings.

The University also took third place for best value in U.S. News and has consistently performed well in other rankings. In the 2003 Atlantic Monthly rankings, Princeton took second place behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in the London Times rankings earlier this year, Princeton took ninth, after top finishers Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley and MIT.

In the Princeton Review's rankings, released this summer, Princeton was in the top ten for "best quality of life" and "most politically active," among other things, and topped the list for "students happiest with financial aid" and "school runs like butter."

But the University doesn't make the top ten for rankings such as "best overall academic experience for undergraduates" or "lots of race/class interaction."

"We say we don't care about rankings, but of course we do," Joseph said. "When the U.S. News rankings came out, it was a news story on the University homepage. Maybe The Washington Monthly will get the University to step up its commitment to service. And this commitment has to be more than just a detached, safe, privileged, intellectual commitment. We have to be willing to roll up our sleeves."