U.S. News ranks IU in 2nd tier

As the euphoria of being named the No. 1 party school begins to wear off, U.S News & World Report is attempting to give IU a reason to get excited and throw one of those famed parties. \nThe magazine uncovered its annual ranking last week of the nation's top colleges and universities, and recognized IU Bloomington and Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis for boasting "programs that work." \nIU's overall ranking, 28th among public universities, remained the same as last year. Among Big Ten schools, it led only Michigan State, at 31st.\nNeil Theobald, vice chancellor of IUB, was unimpressed with the rank.\n"You always like to be better than you are," Theobald said. "We are at the same place we were last year; it's somewhat disappointing."\nIUB was acknowledged for the quality of its education for first-year students. Coincidently, Time last year named IUB its College of the Year among research universities. IUB was also recognized for its successful efforts to encourage writing as an important part of the learning process at all levels.\nDan Dalton, dean of the Kelly School of Business, said he was pleased when the U.S. News ranked IU's business school among the ten best.\n"It's obviously nice to be counted as one of the best business programs in the world," Dalton said. "Many of the schools we compete with are private and able to outspend us. It's very gratifying to be included among a top ten which encompasses public and private universities."\nTwenty-five percent of the rating is based on a survey of university officials. The remainder is based on objective factors such as graduation rates, faculty resources, selective admissions and alumni giving.\nThe college ranking produced by U.S. News has been described as overly reliant on "inputs" such as faculty salaries, test scores of incoming freshmen and alumni giving, according to a National Survey of Student Engagement report. For the past three years, the NSSE has attempted to measure aspects of college education by surveying students throughout the country. Though the survey does not directly assess how much students know, it aims to find how much time is spent on activities correlated with learning outside the classroom.\n"If you only base your judgment about a college's quality on resources and reputation," NSSE director and IU professor of education George Kuh said, "you are missing a big piece of the action, which is what institutions and students actually do."\nTheobald said he was interested in Kuh's notion of evaluating universities outside of grades and academics.\n"You can have an expensive meal that isn't very good, or you can have an inexpensive meal that you enjoy a great deal," Theobald said. "It's not about how much money you spend; it's the experience of the person spending the money that matters."\nRich Folkers, director of media relations for U.S. News, said there is no such thing as a perfect methodology for his magazines type of survey.\n"We feel there is nothing better out there at this point when it comes to academic surveys," Folkers said. "We are always trying to get better, but it is hard to measure the effectiveness of academic surveys."\nFolkers said his magazine works hard to promote accurate and useful statistics regarding universities across the country.\n"We produce these rankings for the benefit of students and parents who are trying to make a very important and expensive decision," Folkers said.