How to Game The College Rankings

Toan Trinh

In the '90s, Northeastern University in Boston had a problem. The school was third-tier, overshadowed by a multitude of world-class institutions nearby. It was facing budget cuts and big staff layoffs.

Richard Freeland came in and saw one list, the U.S. News and World Report, as Northeastern's saving. If the university could figure out how to bring itself up in the rankings, it could bring up its tuition and become a flourishing institution.

From the story: "Freeland swept into Northeastern with a brand-new mantra: recalibrate the school to climb up the ranks. “There’s no question that the system invites gaming,” Freeland tells me. “We made a systematic effort to influence [the outcome].” He directed university researchers to break the U.S. News code and replicate its formulas. He spoke about the rankings all the time—in hallways and at board meetings, illustrating his points with charts. He spent his days trying to figure out how to get the biggest bump up the charts for his buck. He worked the goal into the school’s strategic plan. “We had to get into the top 100,” Freeland says. “That was a life-or-death matter for Northeastern.”

Read the full story at Boston Magazine