On one level or another, people continually evaluate and make judgments about an institution on the basis of various types of information-some accurate and some not. You measure it in terms of the sense of accomplishment and morale for both faculty and students. You measure it in terms of being at the cutting edge of clinical or research developments and in terms of your contribution to both local and national communities. Many people take a certain sadistic pleasure in seeing which university is No. 1 in its category, just as they care about rankings in the National Collegiate Athletic Association or who won and lost the latest election. Mel Elfin, executive editor of America's Best Colleges, the U.S. News annual general ranking of colleges and universities, knows these tendencies well.
Schools seem to agree.
One southern college put the magazine's cover on a billboard when a favorable rating appeared. More than 100 schools visit Elfin's office each year to make absolutely certain he is well-informed. They said we were just trying to sell magazines, that it was a swimsuit issue. With the intervening years, things have changed. We've moved from a status of open hostility to one of covert dislike.