WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - According to Forbes, Williams ranks 19th in the nation. For purposes of comparison, Williams ranked number one in both 2010 and 2011.
It is my understanding that the Forbes ranking prioritizes getting value out of one's educational investment. I assume they are still using the same criteria they reported in 2011 which reads:
Forbes' rating system utilizes five categories to determine school rankings. Student satisfaction includes analyses of teacher quality and student retention rates, among other indicators. The debt category accounts for the average dollar amount students owe upon graduating. The rankings also factor in 4-year graduation rates as well as the number of students winning prestigious fellowships and scholarships. Finally, evaluators account for post-graduate success by examining how school alumni fare in the professional world.Today, Forbes places Williams behind other notable colleges including Cornell where I did my graduate work. Other familiar institutions rated higher than Williams include Brown, Dartmouth and Pomona. Part of the problem seems to be that Williams costs more that Harvard and yet is students end up earning less than Harvard graduates.
Why is Williams College falling out of its previously coveted number one ranking? At the root of most of these measures is the merit of various participants in the college's life. Here, identity politics looks like the most reasonable cause of the drop in status. For example, faculty members picked for their diversity instead of their excellence will naturally reduce the quality of teaching. Bringing in unqualified students will decrease retention rates since these students will most likely crumble under the pressure of competing with their brighter, more together peers. Likewise, a lower quality student body will also be less likely to win awards including fellowships and scholarships. Finally, students who have been largely studying in the great grievance fields will be unlikely to do well in the professional or business world.
Although I've been proud to say I taught at the top liberal arts college in the nation, I've always known that liberal arts colleges are not in the same league as research universities. I've known that Williams benefited in the U.S. News and World Report rankings because of the size of its endowment. Now, I imagine, the proponents of identity politics, who have dominated the campus for years, will finally back off because they realize they have damaged the brand. Not.
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