For years, critics of the college rankings of U.S. News & World Report have said that they reward prestige and wealth. The institutions that are always on the top of the rankings -- places like Harvard, Princeton and Stanford Universities -- enroll students who are destined to succeed, the critics say. It should be no surprise (and not worthy of praise) that the students then do well.
What about the institutions that enroll students not destined to do well -- those who grew up poor, who in many cases went to poorly resourced high schools and who lacked family members with the social capital to help find a good college or launch a career? It is the colleges that succeed with such students that really deserve praise, these critics say. And as a result, a number of efforts have started to look at colleges that promote "social mobility" -- in other words, that help boost those from disadvantaged families into the middle class.
The 2019 U.S. News rankings are out today, and the rankings powerhouse is boasting that it has changed its methodology to take social mobility into account. And indeed -- if you leave the top of the heap -- one can see colleges going up in the rankings, some jumping more than is the norm in any single year. But if you think this is the year that U.S. News will finally credit the California State University or City University of New York campuses for perhaps working harder and doing more than the elites do to help less wealthy, well, don't hold your breath.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/09/10/us-news-says-it-has-shifted-rankings-focus-social-mobility-has-it