Magazine to drop rating in annual college rankings

After years of being blamed for colleges’ feverish competition to sign up their best applicants, the editors of U.S. News & World Report have decided to stop counting the success of such campaigns in their influential ranking of “America’s Best Colleges.”

U.S. News Executive Editor Brian Kelly said the new rankings, due Aug. 25, would no longer include a measure called “yield” — the percentage of students who accept each college’s offers of admission.

The college ranking issue, which began in 1983, is one of the magazine’s best sellers and fuels other profitable U.S. News college guide enterprises.

Given the power of the U.S. News ratings, which have led some parents to refuse even to visit low-ranked schools, college admissions experts say the magazine’s decision may have a significant effect on the debate over programs that accept applicants before Christmas of their senior year in high school.

These early decision programs, popular with the most selective colleges, raise yield because every student admitted this way promises to attend that school.

Critics say this forces high-schoolers to make a choice before they have had time to consider all the options. Low-income minority students find it hard to participate because they need to wait to see which school will give them the most financial aid.

Educators also have complained that the emphasis on yield has turned honorable college administrators into hucksters each April as they throw big weekend parties to persuade admitted students to choose their school. Other yield-enhancing recruitment activities include warm letters from alumni, get-acquainted parties, negative whispers about other schools, meetings with famous faculty and near-promises of admission that arrive long before the official notification date.