Columbia University no longer submitting data to US News college ranking

Columbia University announced Tuesday that it will no longer submit data to U.S. News and World Report for its rankings of undergraduate schools.

“We remain concerned with the role that rankings have assumed in the undergraduate application process, both in the outsized influence they may play with prospective students, and in how they distill a university’s profile into a composite of data categories,” according to a release shared by the school’s Office of the Provost, citing Provost Mary Boyce and other administrators. “Much is lost in this approach.”

Columbia’s law, medical and nursing schools had previously decided not to submit data to U.S. News in their respective categories, with one common concern being that “the rankings do not accurately capture the student experience or the priorities of the institution.” The school came to the same conclusion for its undergraduate programs, according to the release. 

“Mindful of all these concerns, Columbia will not submit data to the U.S. News undergraduate rankings,” the release said.  

Columbia undertook a review effort “after certain data in our 2021 U.S. News and World Report undergraduate submission were challenged.” 

The university came in second place among the list of best colleges for the 2022-2023 rankings, but dropped down to 18th place after it was revealed the school had provided faulty data that bumped it up on the list. Columbia paused data submission to the list as it reviewed the issue.

Additional schools, including Yale, Harvard and other top law schools, have also dropped out of U.S. News and World Report’s ranking system, prompting the outlet to make changes to how it ranks the schools.

In the Tuesday release, Columbia also highlighted concerns about the looming Supreme Court decision on affirmative action — or race-conscious college admissions policies — which “has brought us to a historic moment that may well lead to a reassessment of admissions policies in ways we can’t even contemplate at this point.”

U.S. News responded to Columbia’s announcement saying that “despite the invaluable assistance our rankings offer to students nationwide, our critics tend to attribute every issue faced by academia — including the impending Supreme Court case mentioned in Columbia’s announcement — to our rankings.”

The outlet applauded Columbia’s move to make data sets for its undergraduate schools public and said it will continue ranking the school, stressing that “our rankings should be one factor” in students’ decision-making as they weigh college options.