'U.S. News' ranks U. seventh in Ivies

U.S. News & World Report ranked the University seventh in the Ivy League this year, once again placing it above Brown University in the sixth annual survey of "America's Best Colleges" which comes out today. Overall, the survey ranked the University 14th in the nation, one slot down from last year's position. Harvard University -- for the third consecutive year -- ranked number one out of 204 national universities, with Princeton and Yale universities running 2nd and 3rd with only .1 of a point separating the two. Brown University is the only Ivy League institution that was ranked lower than the University this year. It came in at 17th place, dropping one slot also. President Sheldon Hackney yesterday minimized the effects of the poll, saying as he has in other years, that it does not judge schools fairly. "There is no significant change and it is a very inaccurate ranking," Hackney said. "I think that it is such a flawed mechanism that it will never treat us well." "We are higher in reputation than in overall ranking," Hackney added. And Robert Reichley, vice president of Brown University relations, said the survey is not a good evaluation of the universities. "We said all along, from day one, that we think that it is a full errand to rank such complex mechanisms as universities," Reichley said. Last year's 12th-ranked Cornell University rose in standing to become 11th in the nation in the poll. Columbia University advanced two standings to be 10th-ranked, and Dartmouth College jumped up one position to be ranked 7th. Among the 140 national liberal arts schools, Williams College was top-ranked for the second year in a row. Amherst College ranked a close 2nd with a 99.9 overall score. The U.S. News survey included 1,373 institutions with more than 200 students. The schools were classified into 14 categories based on size, selectivity, types of degrees offered, dollar amount of campus research and region. The ranking is determined by the reputation scores and the data obtained from the schools pertaining to students, faculty and resources. The survey also added information on the financial difficulties that most American colleges are undergoing. Fourty-seven percent of college officials -- out of more than 2,500 -- feel that there are too many colleges. Many of the college presidents surveyed by U.S. News said that their schools would experience a deficit in the next academic year. Hackney said he thinks this financial consideration in the survey is one of the elements that hurt the University the most. "We are relatively poorly endowed given our quality and mission," he said. The magazine's poll also showed that a majority of school officials believe there will be a raise in tuition for most of the colleges in the nation in the 1993-94 school year. The University's tuition rises every year, but Hackney said the amount of increase is the lowest in the Ivy League. He also said tuition at the University is also the lowest among the Ivies. Also in this year's report, Spelman College in Georgia was the first historically black institution to rank number one in any U.S. News surveyed category. Spelman shares the top position for best Regional Liberal Arts College in America with St. Mary's College, Wittenberg University and Southwestern University.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.