The Washington Monthly College Guide: Stupider Than the USNWR Guide

The Washington Monthly's annual university rankings are out and Penn State has fallen from number three to number five. I am sure that Spanier will find a way to spin this to the positve. But you should know that this is one of the most worthless rankings of universities out there and that's saying a lot. It is supposed to rank the societal contributions which the schools make, but it is really poorly thought out and muddled. I won't waste my time unpacking its stupidity (You can read another brief critique here.), but let me give you the flavor of of it. Here is the introduction to it,

Welcome to The Washington Monthly College Rankings. Unlike other college guides, such as U.S. News and World Report, this guide asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country. It's a guide for all Americans who are concerned about our institutions of higher learning. Are our colleges making good use of our tax dollars? Are they producing graduates who can keep our nation competitive in a changing world? Are they, in short, doing well by doing good? This is the guide that tells you.

Amongst the measures used to determine if the our tax dollars are being put to good use is the total federal research expenditures at each university. That's right they are measuring how well the money is spent by how much of our money is spent. Don't waste your time with this ranking.

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