Higher Learning: Christian university finds one college ranking too good not to tout

While many colleges and universities actively seek high rankings in publications like U.S. News & World Report, one school has shied away from such self promotion.

As leaders of a Seventh-day Adventist institution, Loma Linda University administrators make it a point to not be too prideful, especially when it comes to touting their rankings.

But last month administrators learned that their San Bernardino County school was ranked first in a survey by PayScale.com that measured the percentage of graduates who found meaning in their work.

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FOR THE RECORD:
College rankings: In the Oct. 29 California section, an article about college rankings said that in 2012 Claremont McKenna College reported that a senior official had inflated freshman SAT scores to boost the school’s standing in the U.S. News & World Report survey. A later report found that the official had inflated some SAT scores, class rankings and other information because he wanted to placate the school’s then-president with false statistics and that he was not to trying to affect rankings. —
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They faced a dilemma.

Is this one worth touting?

Ultimately they couldn’t resist.

“As a Christian university we don’t feel good about blowing our own horn, but this survey so naturally fit and validated our values, how could we not share it?” said Ron Carter, Loma Linda’s provost.

Leaders in ivory towers throughout the country have to make similar choices. While many privately complain that college rankings are misleading and time-consuming, they nonetheless seek them out in the belief that positive news is worth it.

Their options are to either ignore these ratings and miss a shot at good publicity, push back against negative rankings, or selectively publicize the ones they find the most agreeable.

Many don’t seem as conflicted as Carter about sending news releases when their school ranks highly.

Locally, highly ranked schools such as UCLA and USC note new rankings in releases — “UCLA named among nation’s top public universities in 2015 U.S. News and World Report Ranking” — and often mention rankings in promotional material sent to prospective students.

The most well-known of these annual lists is the one from U.S. News & World Report, which receives huge attention from prospective students and parents, and from the schools themselves. Some say the high rankings help in fundraising and attracting top students. (In 2012, Claremont McKenna College reported that a senior official dean inflated freshman SAT scores for six years to boost its standing in the U.S. News survey.)

Over the years, there’s been a proliferation of polls from such media outlets as Playboy, which ranks the nation’s best party schools, to Money magazine, which published a list titled, “The Best Colleges for Your Money.” (The University of Pennsylvania was the top-rated campus in the Playboy study, and Babson College in Massachusetts was rated number No. 1 by Money). Even the White House is getting in on the act; President Obama is requiring the federal government to begin evaluating colleges on their affordability, among other things, by next year.

PayScale.com, a Seattle-based company, began issuing rankings in 2008 based on surveys with alumni that measure compensation information, satisfaction with work and other factors. The company began conducting these rankings after one executive wasn’t satisfied with the surveys he read as he prepared to send his own children to college.

The first time the company released its rankings, it didn’t get much attention. But, this year, several media outlets publicized it, including the Atlantic magazine and CNN.

Not all schools were as pleased as Loma Linda. Administrators at Bluefield College in Virginia, which ranked low on a PayScale ranking of the best value colleges, said the ratings depended on flawed and self-reported data. “There is nothing statistical or measurable about the survey in any way,” said David Olive, Bluefield’s president.

Loma Linda administrators don’t participate in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, which sends surveys to schools. Because the school only trains medical professionals and doesn’t accept underclassmen, “we don’t really qualify for a lot of surveys, so we just politely say ‘thanks but no thanks,’” Carter said.

But Carter said the campus will rethink its approach to survey results and perhaps will start publicizing the positive ones. “We overdo the humility part,” Carter said.

Several years ago, a survey found that a high percentage of Loma Linda graduates repaid their loans on time, and administrators didn’t pass the results along. “We missed the boat on that one,” Carter said.

Still, he acknowledged that ratings, good or bad, tend to be fleeting.

“In six months, people might forget,” Carter said.

jason.song@latimes.com

Twitter: @latjasonsong