Participation by College Presidents in U.S. News Survey Declines

According to an item in Inside Higher Ed, this year’s participation rate is 46%, down from a 51% participation rate last year. In the survey, college and university presidents are asked to rank other colleges or universities. Their responses account for 25% of an institution’s ranking.

Inside Higher Ed reports that the decline was particularly steep for liberal arts colleges, down to 44% from 55% last year. By implication, the article attributes at least some of the resistance to filling out the survey to an effort by The Education Conservancy, which has organized protests against college rankings, and in particular, the U.S. News ranking, and quotes found Lloyd Thacker:

Lloyd Thacker, founder of the group, said he was encouraged to see fewer colleges helping the magazine with its rankings. While he said he has never thought that the survey of presidents had validity, he questioned how the magazine could say it was so important and express no concern about such a drop in participation. If they say that the reputational survey should account for 25 percent of ranking, how can they say a drop of that percentage over a few years doesnt affect the validity?

The magazines view that the fall in participation doesnt mean anything is just another example of how they are not interested in educational validity but in selling magazines, Thacker said.

[Note: The Education Conservancy is an mStoner client.]

The decline in participation among liberal arts colleges can also be attributed to the decision by presidents who are members of the Annapolis Group not to participate in the U.S. News survey. At their meeting in June 2007, the Annapolis Group presidents also agreed to participate in developing “of an alternative common format that presents information about their colleges for students and their families to use in the college search process.”