Most importantly, many ratings do have merit, as long as prospective students are cautious about interpreting them. In the end, college-bound students are looking for a quick, easy way to compare the thousands of schools available to them. Ratings services, though less influential than personal advice and campus visits, do provide a way to winnow the choices to a manageable number. Print Sources Education Rankings Annual . This Gale publication is a compilation of ratings from many different sources, including scholarly journals, college guides, government publications, newspapers, and popular magazines.
Rankings change and vary over time .
Some of the specific ratings include academic reputation, citation analysis, peer evaluations, distinguished alumni, student achievement in later life, admissions selectivity, application rates, test scores, tuition, faculty salaries, and library and computer facilities. The index conveniently lists, for each institution, all ratings which included the school. The focus is on U.S. universities, but it is unclear how many are involved overall. This source is expensive, but recommended. The Gourman Report .