Jerry Zhao: New qualifiers give fresh perspective on college rankings

Harvard University beats the University of California in the average SAT score and GPA of admitted students; that’s an inarguable fact. But the University of California is doing really well when it comes to fulfilling public obligations and providing services to the people of California.

In a national college ranking based on social mobility, research and service released late last month by the Washington Monthly, four UC schools made the top 10.

These rankings bring an often overlooked perspective to the table for evaluating college performance. When ranking universities, the Washington Monthly takes into account the public benefit that a college creates. This is not a better system per se, but it presents national colleges in a different light that is not only important for prospective students, but also the taxpayers of the country.

Although traditional rankings have the upper hand when measuring the quality of education for the individual student, the Washington Monthly’s rankings take a more focused look at the immediate value a college provides to the public. The main audience for traditional rankings are usually prospective students who care about their individual outlook. For other segments of the public, ranking schools based on the value they provide the people makes more sense.

As opposed to traditional university rankings, where renowned private schools almost always take the top 10 spots, the Washington Monthly’s ranking placed seven public schools in the leading category. The top four UC campuses are UC San Diego, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley and UCLA, ranking first, second, fifth and tenth, respectively.

The data from the rankings serve as an indicative report card when assessing the UC’s commitment to the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education in California, which delegates the responsibility of universally accessible higher education and research to the UC.

This is because the Master Plan’s criteria for the UC coincides with the categories listed by the rankings. Of course the ranking systemcannot be completely in sync with just California’s education plan, but it can be seen as a fairly accurate benchmark for the UC. The UC’s high marks suggests that we are hitting those targets and encourage us to continue our success.

Despite continual budget cuts and rising tuition, the UC has maintained its reputation of providing accessible and affordable higher education to the public. At half the cost of private institutions, the UC extends higher education to an exceptional number of students from low- and middle-income families. The higher percentage of UC students awarded the Pell Grant, more than 40 percent for UC San Diego, reflects a commitment to accessible education.

Moreover, the University conducts billions of dollars in research ranging from agriculture to biotechnology – the highest research expenditure among the colleges ranked by the Washington Monthly.

“For every dollar that we put in the system, we generate $14 in economic activity,” said Dianne Klein, a UC spokeswoman. “There is a tendency for the public to forget that we are the University for all of California and the nation, so much of what we do are from a public mission to benefit people.”

Conventional ranking systems such as those by U.S. News & World Report take the competitiveness of universities as benchmarks, factoring in elements such as SAT scores, GPA, numbers of applicants and acceptance rates.

Traditionally, Ivy League schools and other private universities out-competed UC campuses in those categories of rankings because they have established a history of prestige among students applying to college. They are not obligated to answer to the taxpayers, allowing them to focus on academic markers rather than the community.

Although not as highly ranked in academics as the Ivy League, the UC’s goals are oriented differently. It has done a remarkable job training California’s workforce, churning out state-of-the-art research and acting as a champion of public service among its students and faculty.

“The history of California going back decades of investing heavily in higher education continues to pay off,” said Paul Glastris, editor in chief of the Washington Monthly, in an interview with KPCC. “And though California has seen some huge cuts in its support of its University system there is certainly still an amount of forward momentum from all those years of investment.”

Altogether, these factors represent services for which the public pays for and from which the public benefits. Private institutions such as Harvard have a level of prestige from history that the UC might never surpass.

But among national universities, at least according to the Washington Monthly, the UC does produce the greatest returns to the public it serves, and we need the public’s support to keep it that way.