Rankings that work: avoid the 'school by the numbers' trap with college-choice criteria of genuine value. (The Admissions Angle).

A high school junior, let's call her Mary, and her mother came to our office recently to begin the college admissions process. Mary is a prototypical college-bound student: She works reasonably diligently for a mix of A and B grades, has taken some advanced-level courses in the subjects she likes, participates in school activities as an active member rather than a leader, and wants a college environment where she can balance the academic workload with a fun social life.

We reviewed questionnaires from both mother and daughter, and noted Mary's academic and social interests and preferences regarding size, location, and intensity of her future college. Her mother's responses echoed the environmental preferences, from social to academic. After lengthy discussion on a number of colleges we believed would meet Mary's preferences and aspirations, her mother opened a copy of the latest U.S. News & World Report college and university rankings, pointed to the roster of the top national universities and declared that only two of the schools we recommended for her daughter were listed in the top ranks. While she acknowledged that most of these "most selective" universities were not appropriate to her daughter's academic profile or personal desires, she felt that she (and by association we and her school counselor) was letting her daughter down without encouragement to consider schools determined more elite by their place in the rankings.

This scenario is not unusual these days as college-going families are caught up in their drive to identify schools that provide a first-rate education and social experience, or value for money spent on accelerating tuitions. Yes, it is natural for parents to want to bask in the glow of the prestige of the college their child attends, now often defined by rankings. We find, however, that the greater concern of families is how to determine which of the hundreds of available colleges and universities will provide the essential ingredients for the successful development and education of their children. U.S. News and other journalistic opportunists are thriving in large part because they have the means and economic incentive to pull together great amounts of data that is then put into a system of (almost) comprehensible priorities, in order to discriminate among 1,400 different institutions. Is the data perfect? No. Are the criteria appropriately applied to separate the higher educational wheat from the chaff?. Probably not. Yet there is much in those rankings that is helpful to bewildered families, as they decide which colleges to concentrate on. It does matter to know faculty-to-student ratio, retention and graduation rates; average class size; and the relative financial resources available among competing institutions, to deliver a good education and services via outstanding faculty and student-support personnel. It is ironic that by virtue of the incessant criticism of their ranking methodology, U.S. News has developed a number of data sources that may in fact be more valid than those the individual IHEs use to report to the public. Today, most informed Americans can name many of the most selective, elitist public and private institutions. But what a small piece of the total higher educational pie they represent! Several studies reveal that rankings as a driving force in choosing a college are weighted toward high-performing students and families in the upper-income brackets. This is a comparatively small sector of the great number of students who apply to college annually.

But the "vacuum" of systematically organized, comparative information (contributed by the colleges themselves) is the reason more than 1 million college-bound families purchase U.S. News & World Report each September. And they will continue to do so in the absence of a formal methodology by which colleges and universities of all types measure the quality of their performance in creating positive outcomes for their students. Unfortunately, so many factors that will ultimately determine if a student has chosen the right college cannot be found in statistical rankings such as those presented in U.S. News. This is why we counsel families to take such rankings lightly. The informational gap is reflected in the efforts of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which has for the last three years surveyed freshmen and seniors on the vital issue of their engagement in the learning process. It is unfortunate that only 40 percent of four-year colleges and universities chose to participate in this year's survey, and a majority of these schools will not release the results to the public. Of the 1,400 schools that U.S. News ranks, only 400 participated in the NSSE survey. Yet we believe that the metrics NSSE utilizes to survey school customers prove most helpful to those potential customers who are seeking a best "fit," simply because there is real texture and tone in the NSSE information.

REAL-WORLD RANKING FACTORS

Based on our interaction with hundreds of students every year during and immediately after their undergraduate experience, we have identified the key factors that are ultimately significant to a positive learning experience. We share them with the families we counsel, with the goal of supplanting the quantitatively weighted information of the rankings czars. Measure your institution against these factors, and if it fares well in the assessment, publicize the results to school counselors, consultants, and most important, high school students and their parents. We are confident you will meet with an appreciative response from families and counselors that will matter more than rankings based on data such as median SAT/Act scores, selectivity and yield, and the "beauty contest" reputation factor. Here are our guidelines to families:

STATISTICAL DATA

* Retention of students/graduation rate as a sign of student motivation, commitment, and satisfaction, as weft as of college resources, faculty interaction, and program offerings.

* Percentage of students attending graduate school as a sign of intellectual priorities, strength of academic foundation programs and specific disciplines, and reputation of the cortege among graduate schools.

* Number of award recipients, especially graduate and other national/international fellowships.

* Job placement success/campus visits by companies and other private and public organizations.

* Campus resources for quality-of-life and educational counseling.

* Financial aid programs: percent of students on aid, as a sign of commitment to and ability to attract outstanding students and a diverse student body.

* Endowment relative to enrollment.

* Student-to-faculty ratio for undergraduate education.

* Average undergraduate class size, median crass size, and percentage of classes that are non-lecture style.

* Number and breadth of majors/courses offered; opportunities for inter-disciplinary studies.

* Foreign study and/or internship opportunities and percentage of participation.

* Varsity, intramural sports, and other major campus activities: percentage of students who participate.

* Overall diversity of student body: racial, religious, ethnic, international, socioeconomic, and geographic.

SPECIAL QUALITIES OF CAMPUS LIFE

* Campus spirit, morale, sense of identifiable community, pride in the institution.

* Satisfaction factor: Would majority of students attend again on the basis of their experience?

* Satisfaction with fellow students and faculty.

* A purposeful environment and a balanced social/academic/activity formula.

* Atmosphere of academic challenge, academic concern, individualized support.

THE SPIRAL EFFECT

These are the elements we lay out to students searching for the right college for themselves--not for their peers or their families who might be obsessed with pecking order, as dictated by a third party. Our hope is that students and families will use this model of assessment to explore any institution of potential interest.

Most of the data are readily available directly from the colleges and universities, and while no institution can be perfect in every way, if a majority of these qualities are present, the odds are good that students will value their choice over their lifetime.

Concentrate your efforts on extolling as many of these qualities as you honestly can, and the right student will find you for the right reasons. Then watch the spiral effect take hold: Student satisfaction and retention will increase, as will campus morale and spirit and--as a natural extension of these dynamics--student applications and yield. There should be no need to play with statistics to move up in the rankings, when the true strengths of your institution will be far more effective in recruiting qualified and enthusiastic students.

Howard Greene and Matthew Greene ere independent education consultants, and the authors of the Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning. Their television focus, "Ten Steps to College with the Greenes," will air nationally on PBS in March; check local listings. The Greenes have produced a pledge program as well us a regular video presentation and an interactive DVD featuring interviews with college admission officers from over 25 IHEs, for distribution through PBS, schools, and libraries. For information, e-mail [e-mail], visit www.qreenesguides.com or www.pbs.org.