The US News rankings tend to favor certain types of programs. If we are talking about wanting to be identified as a top program, we need to be aware of how the rankings are determined. Given what we want to be, we need to have a solid general education program. Opportunities for internships and field experiences are needed. Some concern was raised about the terms quality and competitive.
Accreditation seems to be an assurance of quality.
We may, however, have difficulty with competitiveness. Every college is associated with a hot track from the US News jobs outlook report, but we are not adapting. We must pump resources into the right programs. However, hot job tracks change. We must respond and adapt.