39. College Rankings: An Alternative

Does much learning occur at the University of Michigan, Colorado College, or the University of Texas at San Antonio? Do students at Duke University fare better in the job market than their counterparts at Northwestern or Cornell? There are so many important questions like these regarding higher education for which we do not have answers, and colleges have generally resisted providing that information in a uniform manner that would allow comparisons of performance at colleges and universities by consumers, funders, and taxpayers generally.

—Richard Vedder, economics professor at Ohio University and director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity

While US News & World Report’s college rankings monopolize the attention, I much prefer Forbes magazine’s rankings.