Rankings bring out worst in U.S. colleges | THE USA NEWS

theusanews.us — When US News & World Report debuted its directory of America's Best Colleges nearly 30 years ago, the magazine hoped its college rankings would be a game-changer for students and families. But debatably, they've had a much bigger effect on colleges themselves. Yes, students and families tranquil buy the guide and its less famous competitors by the hundreds of thousands, and still care about a college's repute. But it isn't students who obsess over every incremental shift on the rankings scoreboard, and who recurrently embarrass themselves in the process. It's colleges. Feb 6, 2012 View in Crawl 4