Nice To Know It’s Not Always About Prestige…

What’s interesting is not that Texas A&M ranks number one, but that Washington Monthly says it doesn’t let prestige influence its ranking. I like that. I’ll definitely consider this guide when choosing where to go to grad school.

Washington Monthly Ranks Texas A&M Above Princeton in Annual College Rankings

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Washington Monthly magazine today releases its annual College Guide, designed as an alternative to U.S. News & World Report and similar guides. Texas A&M takes the number one spot among national universities on the Washington Monthly list, while Princeton, U.S. News’s top-ranked school, comes in at 78.

UCLA and UC Berkeley place second and third respectively among national universities in the Washington Monthly rankings. Among liberal arts colleges, Presbyterian (SC), Smith (MA), and Wheaton (IL) take the top three spots respectively, far above their U.S. News rankings.

This year’s guide also offers a first-of-its-kind list of America’s Best Community Colleges, and reveals that these little-known two-year institutions actually offer more rigorous and successful teaching than do many four-year universities ranked in U.S. News’ top tier.

The Washington Monthly’s rankings come just weeks after sixty-one liberal arts college presidents announced that they will no longer participate in U.S. News’s annual rankings because of what they charge is the magazine’s flawed method for measuring academic excellence.

Unlike U.S. News’ prestige-focused ranking system, the Washington Monthly rates individual schools based on their tangible contributions to the public interest: on the degree to which they recruit and graduate low-income students; produce PhDs and research; and encourage students to serve in ROTC, the Peace Corps and other service programs. While other guides ask, “what can colleges do for you?” The Washington Monthly asks, “what are colleges doing for the country?”

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