Higher ed rankings matter,
UT researcher says

Summary: Everybody seems to agree that ranking systems for higher ed programs are flawed. Still, a UT researcher has found that people pay attention to them and that they make a difference.

Media rankings of MBA programs matter and influence the way universities do their work.

And, while some academics question the validity of rankings, most believe them to be correct.

Research confirming all that has recently been published by Nissa Dahlin-Brown, assistant director of the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee.

Dahlin-Brown focused on U.S. News & World Report, which has ranked the nation's top 50 MBA programs since 1990 and interviewed 45 faculty and administrators from eight colleges and universities -- three in the Tier 1 (ranked 1-25), three in Tier 2 (ranked 26-50) and two unranked institutions.

She came up with four major findings:

• Rankings matter. They “catch the attention of prospective students, parents, and employers. Schools that rank well win praise from legislators, trustees, and alumni," she said.

And when rankings go up, so do admission applications.

• Rankings affect policy and practice. The desire to be a top-ranked MBA program will push some to do controversial things, such as doing away with the undergraduate program.

• Rankings may be based more on appearance than substance. Some of those Dahlin-Brown interviewed complained that rankings were “beauty contests” that do not use statistically-based information.

• Still, rankings are generally thought to be correct. The top-ranked programs were thought to be the best.

"College rankings have become a point of controversy in the higher education community," she said. "While some think rankings are helpful to prospective students, others think the rankings are time-consuming endeavors that have little or no constructive value."

Dahlin-Brown has a doctorate in higher education administration and policy studies. Dahlin-Brown's study, "The Perceptual Impact of U.S. News & World Report Rankings on Eight Public MBA Programs," was published in the June 2006 issue of the Journal of Marketing for Higher Education.

• reputation (40 percent)
  
  
• placement success (35 percent)
  
  
• student selectivity (25 percent).

Related links

U.S. News and World Report rankings and guides

• Latest rankings of MBA programs by U.S. News and World Report

Other rankings of business schools

• Business Week
  
  
• Forbes
  
  
• Links to other rankings

Journal of Marketing for Higher Education (Haworth Press)

Nissa Dahlin-Brown