Penn has dropped one spot to fifth place in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, released last week.
With Harvard and Princeton universities tying for the first-place ranking, Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology seized the third and fourth spots, respectively.
As usual, Penn tied with other schools -- California Institute of Technology, Duke and Stanford universities.
Among the other Ivy League colleges and universities, Dartmouth was ranked ninth, while Columbia, Cornell and Brown universities received rankings of 11th, 14th and 17th, respectively.
Penn's slight decline this year marks a departure from its steady upward climb -- the University had risen for the past four consecutive years, and has seen tremendous upward movement since being ranked 16th in 1994. It broke into the top 10 in 1997, and received its top spot ever, fourth, last year.
Those disgruntled by Penn's fall this year shouldn't be concerned, according to administrators and even Robert Morris, the director of data research at U.S. News. He confirmed that there are minor fluctuations within the ranking system -- including this year's dismissal of student yield numbers -- which do affect the final results, but certainly may not reflect any significant difference in a university's academic quality.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Penn Provost Robert Barchi.
"I think it's absolutely inconsequential," he said of Penn's one-place difference from last year. "By any measure, by any ranking system, Penn is one of the top 10 institutions."
"Moving one notch in any direction, up or down, is not very significant," University President Judith Rodin concurred. "As long as we remain considered in the top grouping... I think it's relatively unimportant where specifically we are."
"The metrics... and variables change... and it shouldn't affect us," she added.
Many factors are considered when evaluating each school -- including peer assessment, retention rate, faculty resources, level of student selectivity, financial resources and alumni givings, as well as graduation rate performance, according to the magazine's Web site.
These and a number of other criteria are considered carefully, numerically weighted and then evaluated.
According to a Web site statement, U.S. News' goal is "to help you make one of the most important decisions of your life."
While students do consider ranking an important factor, Morris noted a study by the Higher Education Research Institute called American Freshman National Norms for Fall 2002, which found that only 13.1 percent of students considered ranking by national magazines a top priority when selecting a college.
This fell behind other important factors, such as financial assistance offered and school size -- both at 34 percent -- and the most important factor, which was simply a good academic reputation, 55 percent, he added.
The extent to which college-bound students factor rankings into their decision process depends on "the priorities of the student and the type of school they are applying to," Morris said. He added that the average Penn student and Ivy League students in general do tend to consider the numbers.
Despite such factors, many in the academic community -- including former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Richard Beeman -- have publicly criticized the methodology of the rankings.
Recently, the consideration of wealth in evaluating a school's rank was one such problem, Morris noted.
However, Morris argued that financial "resources are important," adding that when "resources are cut, it reduces academic quality."
Recognizing the inclusion of financial resources as a factor in the ranking process, Rodin noted that "breaking into where Harvard, Princeton and Yale are, with their extraordinary resources, may not be possible."
This year, student yield -- the percentage of students who accept an offer of admission -- was dismissed from the criteria. While it may have slightly boosted Penn's ranking in the past -- due to its large pool of early decision applicants -- it was not helpful this year. However, Morris said he believed that there has been little criticism regarding the dismissal of this factor.
