Do College and University Rankings Matter?
Help for Students in Choosing an Institute of Higher Education
Aug 16, 2009
League tables are calculated using different methodologies which are based on a combination of empirical statistics and surveys of educators, researchers, students, prospective students or employers. For aspiring first-year students, what determines a university’s rank and what factors should they pay attention to when choosing a place of study?
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Many ranking tables such as the THE–QS World University Rankings and the Shanghai League Table created by Jiao Tong University in China put high emphasis in that area of research productivity, measured in terms of quantity and quality of research materials. These include
- Volume of articles published by science or nature journals. Naturally these tend to be biased toward medical and natural sciences over other subjects.
- Volume and visibility of Web contents. This takes into account the representation and publication of research activities in academic websites.
- Citations per faculty. A citation is simply a reference to one academic paper in the text of another publication. Showing how recognised and referred to by other members of academia, these tend to be geared towards scientific and technical subjects.
- Number of awards such as Nobel Prizes or Fields Medals won by faculty members. These are greatly prestigious but its relevance to undergraduates may be negligible.
Ranking along the lines of such academic criteria has come in for much criticism because recruitment of staff may be based research accomplishments rather than on a passion and aptitude for teaching. A highly regarded professor attracted to research opportunities does not necessarily translate into a highly competent lecturer and tutor. In this regard a top-ranked university does not mean the best in the quality of teaching and thus beneficial for undergraduates in higher education.
Teaching and Assessment Quality
For the first-time student this may be a more relevant criterion to use in their choice of university. The Guardian University League Table devotes attention to this area in its assessment methodology. Taking into account the overall experience of a student, results are garnered through national student surveys and feedback from final year graduands.
- Teaching quality. This may be rated by students on the course and looks at the clarity of explanations, enthusiasm of tutors and levels of intellectual stimulation and interactivity.
- Assessment and Feedback. Fair assessments and valuable feedback make for quality learning and tutors are assessed on this component.
- Staff/student ratio and average class sizes. This compares the number of staff teaching a subject with the number of students studying it and is an indication of overall availability of faculty and the amount of personal attention you could get.
- Value added. An attempt to measure the growth of students from enrollment through to graduation is made by comparing entry and final qualifications.
Such measurements look at the teaching performance of higher education establishments and could be more accurate in determining whether students will get good value for their money.
Career Prospects and Employability
The point of going to university, after all, is to secure a good job. Career concerns matter in any economic situation and a league table which assesses how successful graduates are in finding employment within a fixed period of graduation are particularly useful.
There is no magic recipe to determining the right ranking table to use. Ranking helps in raising overall awareness about certain indicators but should never be your sole or major criteria. Consider all the other factors that are directly relevant to you in finding the right college or university and explore other avenues such as online opportunities for higher education.
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