Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Murphy takes aim at U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings

  • Higher Education
  • by Ana Radelat
  • December 5, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Washington – Sen. Chris Murphy is tussling with U.S. News and World Report over the publication’s popular college rankings, arguing that enrollment of low-income and minority students are not given enough weight.

The magazine responded late Tuesday, saying it did not have the data to do what Murphy – and other Democratic senators – are suggesting.

Murphy is one of six Democratic U.S. senators trying to press the publication into taking better account of a school’s diversity in the methodology it uses to rank the nation’s universities and colleges.

In a letter sent to magazine editor Brian Kelly this week, the senators said the magazine’s consideration of the number of students with Pell grants — federal tuition grants for low-income students — when it ranks colleges is not enough.

“U.S. News may claim that it now adequately addresses economic diversity by adjusting its new Pell metrics by the share of the student body receiving such grants,” the senators wrote. “But this adjustment still leaves in the background the question of how widely schools open their doors to such students. Moreover, it fails to consider the importance of diversity, inclusion, and representation in its own right.”

The senators also said the approach U.S. News and World Report takes to rank colleges “prioritizes prestige and exacerbates America’s deeply ingrained and racialized wealth disparities.”

U.S. News includes expert opinions of the quality of a school, faculty resources, student excellence, spending on students and alumni donations in its methodology.

Murphy and the other senators object that alumni donations are given a weight of 5 percent, while admission of Pell grant students is only weighed 2.5 percent and the graduation rate of those students 2.5 percent in the methodology that establishes the yearly rankings.

“U.S. News’s methodology reflects an assumption that a college’s success in fundraising matters to its quality as much as its success in serving students from every walk of American life.  We believe judgments like that are indefensible,” the senators wrote.

Besides Murphy, the letter was signed by Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

Kelly responded in a letter to the senators posted on the magazine’s web site late Tuesday.

“Our barrier to measuring social mobility has always been data – we cannot measure data we don’t have. Nor can we make fair comparisons among hundreds of schools,” Kelly said.

Kelly also told the senators that “despite some of the intemperate rhetoric in your letter…there is room for a useful and cordial exchange of ideas.

“This exchange would also clear up some evident misunderstandings about the higher education industry,” Kelly said.

In the magazine’s 2019 ranking of universities and colleges, Yale is ranked No. 3 and the University of Connecticut is ranked No. 63.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Bill would create sexual misconduct climate surveys for Connecticut’s colleges
by Adria Watson

The surveys would be conducted every two years.

CSCU students and faculty push back against contract proposals
by Adria Watson

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities faculty and students gathered outside of Central Connecticut State University Friday morning to protest the Board of Regents’ recent contract proposals, saying the changes could lead to larger class sizes and possibly losing accreditation. “The BOR must … understand their proposals are developed with union-busting in mind,” said Eastern Connecticut […]

State community college system deficit up nearly 38%
by Adria Watson

Much of the shortfall is due to a sharp decrease in enrollment.

Capitol cop: ‘I don’t trust the people above me’
by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan | ProPublica

How failures of leadership put Capitol cops at risk; allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress.

Miguel Cardona is one step closer to becoming next U.S. education secretary
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

In a swift meeting, senators voted 17 to 5 to forward Cardona's nomination to the U.S. Senate for final approval.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion How do we show that we value teachers? By listening to them.
by Sana Shaikh

When I was graduating college, my friends’ futures were brimming with impressive labels: Google, Facebook, McKinsey, Bain, PhD, MD, Fulbrights – the list of professional excellence was seemingly never-ending. When I said that I was becoming a teacher, I got puzzled looks – “Why would you be a teacher?” “If you can’t do, teach,” I heard. The nonchalance about my professional trajectory was unsettling. What’s more? Nothing has changed in the last ten years.

Opinion Sports betting in Connecticut: Can’t all the brands just get along?
by Bill Field

When it comes to legalized sports betting in Connecticut, it’s time that all of the parties gathered in a room and hammered out an agreement that works for everyone. The adage of everyone benefiting from a rising tide hasn’t resonated in the past two and half years. 

Opinion COVID-19 will push nursing home design forward
by Myles R. Brown

Over 40 percent of American deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been nursing home residents. Outdated nursing home designs contributed to the scale of this tragedy in Connecticut. Many design changes that could have prevented the spread of COVID-19 were already needed to improve the well-being of nursing home residents. The pandemic has made these issues impossible to ignore.

Opinion Let gig economy workers pursue options
by Nicole Petruzzi

In response to your February 22 story, “In an evolving economy, lawmakers take roles once played by unions:” Like many Connecticut workers, I struggle to make ends meet for my family, even when working full time. This last year has been a particularly hard time. I started looking for a part-time job to supplement my income, but I was worried that even something part-time would take away precious and needed time with my family.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO