Forbes has become a new post for ranking the best universities and colleges in the United States, aiming to downplay the traditionally prestigious rankings by
U.S. News and World Report. Forbes, unlike U.S. News, makes
a compiled list of both universities and liberal arts colleges for the rankings based on the following five criteria collected by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP):
1. Listing of Alumni in the 2008 Who's Who in America (25%)
2. Student Evaluations of Professors from Ratemyprofessors.com (25%)
3. Four- Year Graduation Rates (16 2/3%)
4. Enrollment-adjusted numbers of students and faculty receiving nationally competitive awards (16 2/3%)
5. Average four year accumulated student debt of those borrowing money (16 2/3%)
It was not only stunning but also almost shocking that
Swarthmore College was ranked #4, ahead of most of the Ivy League universities except for Princeton (#1) and Harvard (#3) because, you know, Swarthmore has no reputation among Koreans and even some Americans. To address the creditability of Forbes rankings, Forbes is a world-recognized financial and business magazine that has a long history of publishing
lists for a diversity of issues ranging from "
The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" to Richest People of the World. But Forbes hasn't had a foot in the door of ranking the best colleges until this year. Nevertheless, it still can't be bullshit or rubbish because it's Forbes.
From the first day I was back early to Swarthmore for the international orientation, we discussed and chatted about the Forbes rankings spread more publicly through one of Swat gradutates' facebook page. Not only were the other Swarthmore students impressed and thrilled by the honorable recognition, but also were Koreans proud to hear the news. And even a couple of Korean students told me that these rankings were also reported in a major Korean newspaper,
Chosun Ilbo. I was personally so glad to hear one of the prestigious journals of Korea cover the article, expecting that it would inform many Koreans ignorant of liberal arts colleges as a whole, let alone Swarthmore College, of the strength and competitiveness of the under-recognized schools.
However, Korean journals were so biased and unjust as to drive me to write a post about them immediately - what a yellow journalism. All the major newspapers, stubbornly equipped with chronically obsessive consciousness of ostentatious reputation, just wanted to capture only a part of the fact that they want to show to the public. Most of the newspapers including one from Chosun Ilbo gave an exclusive spotlight on the fact that Princeton topped the rank published by Forbes, followed by Cal Tech and Harvard. Though the Forbes rankings could cast a fresh perspective on the best colleges in the U.S. in the Korean publics and especially those considering getting a U.S. college education, Korean journals were preventing the cultivation of the unorthodox attention on the lesser known liberal arts colleges.
Chosun.com/조선일보:
미(美) 대학 순위 프린스턴 1위Donga.com/동아일보:
포브스 “올해 美 최고대학은 프린스턴”Hankyung.com/한국경제신문:
"올해 美 최고대학은 프린스턴"[포브스]Koreadaily.com/USA 중앙일보:
올해 최고 대학은 프린스턴' 포브스 선정When I searched on Google with key words such as "
포브스 대학 순위," They didn't cover at all how less famous liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore, Williams, and Amherst got ranked high above many Ivy League universities. By emphasizing that Princeton is the number one university, along with Harvard as one of the top threes, Korean journals mislead the readership to believe more firmly that only the famous schools like Harvard and Princeton are great and worthwhile to go to. In this manner, Korean media don't give just credits and honor for the top-ranked liberal arts colleges - especially Swarthmore, Williams, and Amherst, three of which were also ranked on the top of the
list made by U.S. News and World Report - and misguide the prospective Korean students to make not the best choice.
U.S. News: 2009 Best Liberal Arts Colleges Korean journals disavow their media responsibility by turning away from viewing the very broad and true picture of a fact and highlighting only a superficial bit of the whole fact to manipulate the public or reinforce an orthodox belief/myth. This mishap is not new in Korean journalism, though. The Metropolitician, an enthusiastic American blogger about the inside of Korean culture and nationalism, posted about the DMC press conference where DMC of Run DMC was prompted to give an answer that Korean media wants to hear from an American public figure about the importing of beef.
Remember, no matter what, we just care for the truth.
P.S. Also if you're rank-conscious, you should be aware that Swarthmore ranks 6th on the "High school counselor rankings of liberal arts colleges."
High school counselor rankings of liberal arts collegesP.P.S. I also came across an interesting
post about the Forbes college rankings while searching on Google. Georgia Tech, ranked 501th by Forbes, Korean students who go to the school got so angry that they jotted on the website for Georgia Tech Korean Student Association how meaningless the college rankings were.
