Due to certainty recognition in ranking systems, the commonly included top 100 universities are regarded as the Universally Acknowledged World-Class Universities (UAWCUs). From three university rankings-THEs, QS and ARWU from 2010 to 2015, the following conclusions can be drawn from this study: Firstly, 56 universities are commonly ranked in the…

The calibration of test materials generally involves the interaction between empirical analysis and expert judgement. This paper explores the extent to which scale familiarity might affect expert judgement as a component of test validation in the calibration process. It forms part of a larger study that investigates the alignment of the…

The outcome of university ranking is of much interest and concern to the many stakeholders, including university's sponsors, administrators, staff, current and prospective students, and the public. The results of rankings presented in the form of league tables, analogous to football league tables, attract more attention than do the processes by…

This study applies a data envelopment analysis model developed for national universities to 93 national liberal arts colleges. Such models can be used by individual institutions for benchmarking purposes or by researchers seeking to compare the practices of highly efficient liberal arts colleges with the practices of relatively inefficient…

Rankings of colleges and universities in the popular press have two problems: (1) they are gimmicks to sell publications; and (2) institutions have become pawns, juggling numbers in quest of higher rankings, the ethical equivalent of cheating. Higher education must return to truth, fairness, and honesty to regain its purpose and integrity. (MSE)

In response to the controversial college rankings published in national magazines, Stanford University (California) has posted some of the statistics used in the "U.S. News and World Report" on its World Wide Web site. It encourages other institutions to do the same to make the information readily available without the perceived…

A discussion of the National Research Council's 1995 ranking of research-doctorate programs in the United States criticizes the report for what it does not address, particularly comparisons with the information it disseminated in a 1982 report, some data discrepancies, and central issues such as an institution's available methods of instruction,…

The five-volume Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, the most authoritative academic quality ranking ever done, is discussed. The Assessment covers 2,699 programs in 32 disciplines and assesses a faculty's reputation for scholarly quality. Improvements in programs' reputations are also discussed. (MLW)

A 1994 "U.S. News and World Report" ranking of professional schools of social work is examined and compared with the findings of 8 other attempts to rank social work schools in the last 20 years. Results indicate that the assessment measures used were primarily faculty products (for example, articles published), and that the reputational…

Reports an exploratory study of the relationship between faculty publishing rates in basic and applied-research journals and institutional ranking based on 1995 data for 1,318 four-year colleges and universities. Results reveal a strong, positive association between scholarship and institutional ranking, with some interesting exceptions. (MSE)

The "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of colleges do not affect institutions equally; the schools impacted most are those that have the most to lose because they benefit from, even rely on, the rankings for prestige and visibility. The magazine relies on the rankings for substantial sales revenues, and has garnered considerable power…

A review of "U.S. News and World Report" law-school ratings over a period of ten years offers observations about the methodology used to assess reputation, and discusses the consistency of the outcomes. Also considers whether the ratings themselves have affected reputation over time. (MSE)

Although higher education institutions dislike rankings published in the mass media, they like the attention the rankings create and prefer to be included rather than excluded. Common criticisms of the methodology include emphasis on inappropriate criteria, unfair comparison of private and public institutions, faulty assumptions, inaccurate data,…

A pilot study of undergraduate institutions that tests the value of the reputational rating approach, which uses subjective questionnaires, is described. It is suggested that there is no substantial evidence that quantification of subjective opinions is inferior to quantification of objective indicators when national assessments are conducted.…

Analysis of six reputational rankings of English departments since 1925 indicates most of the highest-ranking departments have been in private universities. There has been great stability in the highest-ranked departments during this period, with few entering or leaving the group. (Author/MSE)