Harvard, Princeton Again Top US News College Rankings

哈佛大学(Harvard University)和普林斯顿大学(Princeton University)在《美国新闻与世界报道》杂志(U.S. News and World Report)的年度美国大学排行榜中再度名列榜首，显示这一年来这份深具影响力的排名变化不大。这两所常春藤盟校并列第一，耶鲁大学(Yale University)屈居第三。去年，普林斯顿大学名列第二。这份杂志将第四名授予加州理工学院(California Institute of Technology)麻省理工学院(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)斯坦福大学(Stanford University)和宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)。第八名为哥伦比亚大学(Columbia University, of New York City)和芝加哥大学(University of Chicago)。《美国新闻与世界报道》在进行大学排名时会综合考虑各种因素，如调查大学管理者对其它院校声望的打分，以及诸如毕业率校友捐赠率标准化考试分数和录取比率等数据。这份杂志还会对文理学院和其它专科学校进行排名。威廉姆斯学院(Williams College)被评为美国最佳文理学院，其次是阿默斯特学院(Amherst College)，然后是斯沃斯莫尔学院(Swarthmore College)。这与去年相比略有变化，当时威廉姆斯学院和阿默斯特学院并列文理学院第一名。宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院被评为美国最佳本科商学院，麻省理工学院和加州大学伯克利分校并列第二。《美国新闻与世界报道》的年度排名仍然是最有影响力的高校排行榜，它的引人注目和方法长期以来也一直存在争议。批评者认为，这份排行榜导致大学大搞“数字游戏”。一些高校管理人员承认，在接受调查时采取过降低竞争对手声望打分的策略，还有一些人拒绝同该杂志合作。《美国新闻与世界报道》没有披露其计算大学分数的公式，并拒绝计算民意调查和其他数据的“误差幅度”。大多数民意调查都考虑误差幅度，这将使学校与排名之间存在更强的统计关系。该杂志已反驳了这种批评，称其方法同高校考核申请入学者的方法并没有多大区别。《美国新闻与世界报道》的排名定于周四在该杂志及其网站上公布。在collegeconfidential.com等网络论坛上，网民周三已经在讨论这份排名，他们依据的是从报摊上购买的这份杂志。《华尔街日报》周三在波士顿地区的一个零售点买到了这份杂志。Keith J. Winstein相关阅读美国大学捐赠基金的流动性教训 2009-08-20美国小院校捐赠基金投资表现远超哈佛耶鲁 2009-06-30哈佛面临建校历史上最大裁员 2009-06-24


Harvard University and Princeton University again topped the annual ranking of U.S. universities published by U.S. News and World Report magazine, reflecting a year of little change on the influential list.The two Ivy League schools shared the top spot, just above Yale University, in third. Last year, Princeton placed second.The magazine awarded the #4 spot to a tie among the California Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania.Eighth place was given to Columbia University, of New York City, and the University of Chicago.U.S. News and World Report ranks colleges using a variety of factors, including a poll of college administrators who rate other schools' prestige, and figures such as graduation rate, alumni giving rate, standardized test scores and admissions rate.The magazine also rates liberal arts colleges and other post-secondary schools. Williams College was rated the best liberal arts college in the country, followed by Amherst College, and then Swarthmore College.That reflected a slight change from last year, when Williams and Amherst tied for the top of the liberal-arts list.The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School was rated the best undergraduate business program in the country, followed by a tie between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley. The magazine's annual list remains the most influential among college rankings, and its prominence and methodology have long been controversial. Critics argue that the list leads schools to 'game' their figures. Some college administrators have acknowledged strategically rating competitors' low in prestige on the survey's opinion poll, and others have refused to cooperate with the magazine.U.S. News doesn't disclose its formula to calculate a college's score, and has resisted calculating a 'margin of error' from the poll and other figures. Most opinion polls do figure a margin of error, which would result in more statistical ties between schools with close rankings.The magazine has rejected such criticism, arguing that its methods are comparable to those used by colleges to rate applicants seeking admission.The U.S. News rankings are set to be released Thursday on the magazine's Web site and at newsstands. On the Web, on forums such as collegeconfidential.com, commentators were already discussing the rankings Wednesday, based on copies of the magazine purchased from newsstands. The Wall Street Journal purchased a copy Wednesday at a Boston-area retailer. -By Keith J. Winstein, The Wall Street JournalKeith J. Winstein