As we all know, U.S. News World University Rankings, as an authoritative school selection list, can be said to be the " Ivy List" in the study abroad circle. It has always been known for its emphasis on academic research and the overall reputation of the school.
Last week, two top American universities (Yale University and Harvard University ) law schools came forward and announced their withdrawal from the rankings of the US institution, giving U.S. News a heavy blow.
What is even more unexpected is that this is just the beginning! As of the time of writing, 10 law schools have expressed their withdrawal.
More than ten law schools announced their withdrawal from U.S. News ranking
Local time On November 16, the dean of the Yale Law School suddenly posted a statement on its official website about the withdrawal of U.S. News ranking. Although Yale has always been at the top of the U.S. News rankings, they have never spent money to "buy the list". This withdrawal was due to serious flaws in U.S. News rankings, which hindered projects that support public welfare, support demand-based funding and welcome working-class students into the industry. Ranking is undermining the core of the legal community. Therefore, as the leading academic institution in the legal world, Yale no longer considers participating in the rankings.
On the same day, Harvard Law School also issued a similar statement.
John Manning, dean of Harvard Law School, said in a letter to all law school members that the decision was made because the school’s principles and commitments could no longer agree with the methods and motivations reflected in the U.S. News rankings.
Manning said that this decision was not made easily, and it was decided after careful consideration in the past few months.
As for the reasons for exiting the ranking, Manning believes that ranking has greatly affected the school's decision-making and encouraged schools to increase their reputation by improper means, thereby harming the interests of students.
You should know that Yale Law School ranks first in the United States' best law school in 2023 U.S. News, and Harvard Law School ranks fourth. Now, these two universities have come forward to publicly say that the U.S. News ranking is flawed and that it is undoubtedly a slap in the face of U.S. News.
The next day, the UCB, ranked ninth among the best law schools in the United States, quickly followed up and announced its withdrawal.
is similar to the previous Yale and Harvard Law School statements. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law School, said: Although the ranking inevitably has some arbitrary characteristics, some aspects of the U.S. News ranking are extremely inconsistent with our values and public mission. He pointed out three major problems in the ranking of U.S. News law schools:
① Ranking is not good for schools that help students participate in public service legal careers;
②The existing ranking model ignores continuing further studies and graduates who engage in other professions;
③The existing ranking method ignores the importance of legal profession and social roles considered by Berkeley Law School.
After Yale and Harvard Law School announced their withdrawal from the U.S. News ranking, University of Pennsylvania Law School praised Yale and Harvard for their leadership role and said that this issue is being considered. After
, more and more American university law schools have joined the team to exit the U.S. News rankings…
cites similar views expressed by deans of Yale and Harvard Law School, adding: "The U.S. News and World Report " ranking method improperly hinders public services because treating students who provide scholarships to support such work is very similar to the way they treat unemployed students."
The same day, the 4th Columbia University and 14th Georgetown University also issued an exit ranking declaration on its official website.
Dean Mark D. West Dean said: Law School has been discussing the issue of parting ways with ranking for many years, but it has been difficult to take this step alone. Yale Law School and Dean Heather Gerken's move was appreciated.
However, this is not over:
- Last year, a former dean of Temple University’s Business School was sentenced to 14 months in prison and a $250,000 fine for using fraudulent data to improve the school’s national rankings and increase income from 2014 to 2018.
- In February this year, Micheal Thaddeus, a professor in the Department of Mathematics of Colombia University, pointed out that in the data submitted to U.S. News, there is a large amount of inaccurate or even completely false data. Then in July, Columbia announced its withdrawal from the 2023 U.S. News World University Rankings.
- In March this year, University of Southern California (USCh) withdrew the college from the U.S. News ranking because it discovered that there was "inaccurate historical data" in its report from the Los Angeles School of Education 5 years ago.
- Columbia University chose not to participate in the new ranking due to data fraud, but U.S. News still included it in the ranking and lowered its ranking from 2nd to 18th.
As of the time of writing, 11 colleges and universities have announced their withdrawal from the U.S. News rankings, and only 5 of the top 15 colleges and universities in 2023 are left. Who will be the next university to follow? What's wrong with
U.S. News ranking?
U.S. News' law school ranking has always occupied an important position in the legal industry that attaches great importance to reputation. Students who want to become lawyers refer to this ranking when choosing a school. Entering a top-ranked school means you have the opportunity to get a high-paying assistant job in a large law firm, a judicial assistant or other highly competitive positions after graduation.
But in recent years, the ranking of U.S. News is no longer news, and it can even be described as "scandals continue":
However, although almost all vocational education workers disdained to rank, before last week, only a few maverick schools dared to quit.
And the school's refusal to participate does not mean that these institutions will not be listed in the rankings later.After
U.S. News added their own statistics to the ranking formula, effectively punishing them.
Most colleges seem to live in fear of a drop in rankings, and there is good reason. Academic research has always shown that a sharp decline in rankings in a certain year will affect the decrease in the number of applicants in the next year. As one university president said, "I hate rankings, but unilateral sanctions are tantamount to suicide."
However, this time it is obviously different. As of now, the top 15 law schools directly point out that there are problems with U.S. News’ best law schools rankings and they need to exit the ranking. Law School Ranking "In Name"!
So, what is the reaction of U.S. News, who is at the center of the storm?
After the initial Yale statement, U.S. News said it adhered to the mission of "ensure that law schools take responsibility for providing education for them."
. When Harvard issued a statement, U.S. News slightly let go, saying: "We agree that the standardized score cannot reflect the overall picture of the applicants. The law school makes an admission decision on the applicants based on its vision." "Ranking is just the beginning, not the answer. Our consistent mission is to provide school data for future students and their families."
As more and more schools join the army that withdraws from the U.S. News ranking, I believe that the current U.S. News can be taken care of and can no longer calm... The ranking of
can be referenced, but you cannot blindly follow it!
Objectively speaking, although each university ranking has its own shortcomings and doubts, it cannot be completely denied. Each ranking still has its value.
For ordinary students and parents, it is difficult to understand a school in a comprehensive, systematic and professional manner, and it is also difficult to screen out a group of relatively suitable colleges from many colleges and universities in a short period of time. The ranking allows us to quickly understand the approximate gradient of the target school. Therefore, these rankings meet the public's demand for certain information transparency in universities to a certain extent.
Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences Researcher Chu Zhaohui also said that university evaluation plays a key role in the development of universities, and a simple rejection is also not advisable.
However, various past cases also remind us again: ranking cannot be used as the only criterion. The director of
hopes that everyone will not be kidnapped by rankings. Instead, after understanding the basis and focus of each ranking, based on their own needs, comprehensively consider various factors, and choose a college that matches them more.
▌ Statement: This article is originally edited by the Study Abroad Cafe. Please indicate the reprint of
▌ Source: Official websites of each university, U.S. News, Forbes, The New York Times
▌About Copyright: Study Abroad Cafe respects copyright. If there is any infringement, please contact us to delete
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