According to the latest U.S. News report, five schools have admitted to U.S. News that they incorrectly reported data used to calculate the 2019 Best Colleges rankings.
These schools are University of California-Berkeley, Scripps College, Mars Hill University, University of North Carolina-Pembroke, and Johnson & Wales University.
Among them, UC Berkeley is one of the world's top public universities, originally ranked 22nd among all national universities; Scripps College is also a well-known liberal arts college, originally ranked 29th among all liberal arts colleges.
What Does Misreporting Mean?
Each school's misreporting resulted in their numerical ranking being higher than it should have been. Due to the discrepancies, U.S. News moved these schools to the "Unranked" category, meaning they did not receive a numerical ranking.
These five schools' unranked status will continue until the next edition of the Best Colleges rankings is released, pending confirmation of the accuracy of their next data submission as required by U.S. News. Other schools' rankings in the 2019 Best Colleges list will remain unchanged.
Additionally, schools that are "unranked" in the Best Colleges rankings are also not eligible for rankings such as Best Value Schools, Top Public Schools, and Best Colleges for Veterans.
When Did the Misreporting Occur?
These schools submitted incorrect data during the spring and summer 2018 data collection period and completed the verification process, certifying their information as accurate.
They notified U.S. News of the misreporting in the spring and early summer of this year, during the data collection for the 2020 rankings. This data collection period also allowed schools to review and audit the previous year's data.
Why Did the Misreporting Happen?
U.S. News states that misreporting is rare, and they take it very seriously. In addition to rankings, U.S. News has always published school-provided data to help students and parents evaluate their educational options.
U.S. News relies on schools to accurately report their data, and evaluates Best Colleges data in multiple ways. This includes flagging year-over-year discrepancies, comparing school data with federal government data, and requiring school officials to sign off on their school's data.
Post-Data Misreporting Handling
On the U.S. News website, the profile pages of these five schools now display their "unranked" status. Additionally, for the benefit of future students, U.S. News has removed the incorrect data from the pages.
Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island admitted to U.S. News that for years it had inflated the financial resources expenditure budget for its Providence campus, using financial expenditure data from all campuses to substitute for the Providence campus.
The school stated that the reported financial resources expenditure should have been about $62 per $100. In U.S. News rankings, financial resources account for 10% of the Best Colleges ranking.
UC Berkeley initially reported that its two-year average alumni giving rate for fiscal years 2017 and 2016 was 11.6%. However, the actual average alumni giving rate for FY2016 was 7.9%.
UC Berkeley also stated that at least since 2014, it had incorrectly included pledges in its alumni giving data. This does not align with U.S. News' definition.
U.S. News' definition is based on federal government and industry standards, which clearly specify that only tax-deductible gifts should be included, excluding donations that do not meet IRS charitable deduction requirements.
This means that since 2014, Berkeley has annually inflated its alumni giving data. In the rankings, alumni giving rate accounts for 5%.
In light of these misreporting issues, U.S. News requires the chancellor of UC Berkeley, the president of the University of California system, and the president of Johnson & Wales University to provide a letter certifying the accuracy of their schools' data for use in the next edition of the Best Colleges rankings.
The other three schools—Mars Hill University and Scripps College reported incorrect alumni giving rates, and University of North Carolina-Pembroke misreported high school class rank. They were also removed from the rankings by U.S. News.
Regarding rankings, everyone should remain rational. It can be seen that even the most authoritative ranking institutions can be exploited by universities using inaccurate data to increase their appeal to students.
When selecting schools, students should not focus solely on rankings; a comprehensive school selection approach is needed. Factors such as specific program offerings, location, cost of living, and alumni network are all considerations.
Wishing all currently applying students the best of luck in getting into the university that suits them best!
