U. gets highest ranking ever in 'U.S. News' list

Penn was tied with two other schools for sixth place, up one from last year's No. 7 ranking. Receiving its highest ranking ever, the University jumped this year to a three-way tie for sixth place in U.S. News & World Report's annual listing of the nation's best colleges, finishing one notch higher than 1997's seventh-place finish. In the 12th annual rankings -- released in the magazine's August 24 issue and separate "America's Best Colleges" guidebook -- Penn tied with Cornell and Duke universities for the No. 6 spot. While Duke fell three spaces from last year, Cornell jumped over eight schools since last year's No. 14 ranking -- the biggest leap of any school in the top 50. Tied with Cornell, Penn again placed fourth in the Ivy League behind No. 1-ranked Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities. Dartmouth College and Brown and Columbia universities were three of the four schools tied for 10th place, giving the Ivies eight of the top 13 spots. "It's certainly a step in the right direction," Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said. "It's seen as a positive position for Penn in the eyes of prospective students." Based on the magazine's ranking criteria -- including academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, student-faculty ratio, selectivity and alumni giving -- Penn received an overall score of 97 this year. Though that was up one point from last year, scores are not directly comparable from year to year because the magazine's editors tinker with the criteria annually. Prior to last year, the University had failed to crack the top 10 among the 228 national universities in U.S. News' rankings, placing as low as 20th in the 1989 listing. But with Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology occupying the five positions ahead of Penn this year, Stetson said it was "very difficult" for the University to move any higher. "The marginal increment to the next level is going to be a challenge," he said. The rankings have been a source of controversy in recent years as student groups and college administrators alike have criticized U.S. News for giving prospective students an inaccurate and misleading comparison of vastly different schools. After Penn's drop to 13th place in 1996, University President Judith Rodin questioned the validity of the ranking system, noting that the rankings are "comparing apples to oranges in many respects." But Rodin did admit this year that the rankings are a good reflection of the University's reputation. "The reality is that students and their parents use these rankings in the decision-making process," she said. "Clearly, this affirmation that Penn is among the very best universities in America is helpful as we seek the most able students in the nation and around the world for the class of 2003." Rodin's five-year strategic plan for the campus, the Agenda for Excellence, states a top-10 ranking as a goal, though it does not refer to the U.S. News list specifically. Stetson, while emphasizing that the admissions community has been "hesitant" about the rankings, was pleased with this year's list. "My philosophy is that if you are going to be ranked it is to your benefit to be ranked as high as possible," he said. He added that while the rankings have only a "marginal" effect on the number of applications the University receives, Penn's rise on the list has corresponded to an improved applicant pool and a greater number of accepted students coming to Penn. Earlier this summer, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was ranked 11th on U.S. News' ranking of America's best hospitals, up three spots from last year. It was the only hospital in the region to make the magazine's annual "Honor Roll."