Governor wants to improve school ranking

By Daniel Johnson

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson wants the University of Kansas to improve its national rankings but he isn’t asking football coach Mark Mangino or basketball coach Bill Self to lead the way.

Admission standards for Freshman

Kansas Residents :

Achieve an ACT score of 21 or above or an SAT score of 980 or above

Rank in the top one-third of their high-school class.

Earn at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0-point scale in the Kansas Board of Regents curriculum

Out-of-State Residents:

Achieve an ACT score of 24 or above or an SAT score of 1090 or above

Rank in the top one-third of their high-school class

Earn at least a 2.5 GPA on a 4.0-point scale in the Kansas Board of Regents Curriculum

Instead, the University is counting on students’ ability to perform in the classroom.

Our graduation rates have to be better,” Lynn Bretz, University spokeswoman, said. “Improve these and rankings will follow.”

photo

Illustration by Drew Stearns

In a recent address to the Board of Regents, Parkinson called for the six state universities, Kansas, Kansas State, Pittsburgh State, Wichita State, Emporia state and Fort Hays State to improve their standings in national college rankings such as the US News & World Report. University officials said improved rankings could bolster the University’s national reputation, keeping outstanding students in-state, attracting high quality out-of-state students and strengthening employment opportunities for graduates.

Though the rankings are widely read and accepted, state officials still acknowledge flaws in relying on subjective rankings to judge academic success.

“There are many ways to raise rankings without actually improving education,” Kansas Regent Jill Docking, said. “Any ranking system has flaws.”

Parkinson addressed several University shortcomings that contributed to the University’s low ranking in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings. Although the University ranked as the state’s highest at 96th out of 260 national universities, Parkinson called the state’s overall position “mediocre.” He set a goal that the University ranks as a top-50 national university within 10 years.

Parkinson specifically mentioned increasing admission standards to improve the state’s retention and graduation rates.

“Our open enrollment policy has hurt our rankings considerably,” Parkinson told the Regents. “It has lowered our ACT and GPA scores and more importantly, resulted in students who are not ready for college-level classes.”

Ranking Breakdown

US News & World Report uses 15 categories to determine a university’s ranking. Admission standards, which includes the ACT and SAT scores of incoming freshmen and the number of freshmen who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, account for 15 percent of the final ranking. The category also weighs the acceptance rate of applicants.

The University’s current admissions standards require that in-state students score at least a 21 on their ACT or 980 on their SAT; rank in the top third of their high-school class; or have a cumulative 2.0 high school grade point average. According to the US News & World Report, the University’s fall 2008 acceptance rate of 91.8 percent was the highest among Big 12 schools, meaning more students are accepted at the University than anywhere else in the Big 12. The University of Texas, which was ranked 47th by US News & World Report, had an acceptance rate of 43.5 percent.

Docking, who graduated from the University with a master’s degree in business in 1984, said that she thought the University’s standards were outdated and that she supported Parkinson’s challenge.

“If kids only need these to enroll, we are setting them up to fail,” Docking said.

By raising admission standards, Docking said a greater proportion of students would succeed. She said this would help increase student retention and graduation rates.

Retention rates measure the proportion of students that return to campus the following year and eventually graduate within a six-year period. This counts for 20 percent of the U.S. News ranking. According to the University’s Web site, the six-year graduation rate was 59.6 percent for the class of 2008, which was below the national average of 60 percent.

1. Texas – 47th

(43.5 percent acceptance)

2. Texas A&M – 61st

(70.1 percent acceptance)

3. Colorado – 77th

(78 percent acceptance)

4. Baylor – 80th

(51.4 percent acceptance)

5. Iowa State – 88th

(87.3 percent acceptance)

6. Kansas – 96th

(91.8 percent acceptance)

7. Nebraska – 96th

(63 percent)

8. Missouri – 102nd

(80.5 percent)

9. Oklahoma – 102nd

(81.5 percent)

10. Kansas State – Tier 3

(84.4 percent)

11. Oklahoma State – Tier 3

(89 percent)

12. Texas Tech – Tier 3

(72.1 percent)

Note: Tier-3 schools are ranked between 134 and 196

— US News & Global Report

Bretz said that improving graduation rates was a top priority for Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. She said raising admission standards could help accomplish this goal.

“Raising retention and graduation rates is the key to success,” Bretz said. “We’d rather see students at the finish line than the starting line.”

Docking said although she agreed with the governor’s assessment, the Regents would determine their own plans for state institutions.

“The governor’s objectives are not necessarily the goals of the board,” Docking said.

She said the Regents planned to appoint a task force to review these standards. The report is expected to take between six and nine months to complete. Under state law, the Regents can determine admission standards at the four state universities.

Benefit for students

KU alumna Kim Wells said students would benefit if the University improved its ranking. After graduating from the University in 1971, Wells studied law at the higher-ranked University of Virginia. He said the biggest difference between the schools was the overall quality of students. He said that having a higher-ranked program attracted a more competitive student body, which produced more serious students.

Wells, now a partner in the Kansas City law firm Gilmore & Bell, said having a degree from a high-ranked university created opportunities for him.

“The better the school is ranked, the more doors open for you,” Wells said. “Getting credentials is a part of life.”

Mason Heilman, student body president, agreed that higher rankings would benefit the University. He said it would attract higher quality students, making the University more prestigious and nationally recognized.

“We are a research institution competing with other research institutions for quality students and faculty,” Heilman said. “Obviously better rankings would give us an edge.”

Despite such benefits, critics argue that the U.S. News rankings are subjective and easily abused. According to US News & World Report, 25 percent of the ranking is based on a peer assessment determined by surveying administrators from other similarly categorized schools.

Reliabilty of Rankings

In some instances, university administrators have admitted to working to manipulate rankings. A June 4, 2009, Associated Press story reported that Catherine Watt, former head of Clemson University’s institutional research office, admitted to altering class sizes, tampering with faculty salary data and instructing administrators to rank all other schools lower than Clemson on the peer assessment.

Docking said that she recognized this potential abuse of the rankings, but that they remained an important factor in assessing the state of our higher education.

“I am familiar with the game that is college rankings,” Docking said. “However, rankings are still an important measure.”

Bretz added that although the governor’s stated goals were to boost the rankings, the real mission was to improve the state’s higher education.

“We would be elated to see KU’s name move up,” Bretz said. “But the real focus is improving education.”

— — Edited by Tim Burgess

Comments

lifelessmelancholy (anonymous) says...

Problem:
1) Changes would affect those admitted to KU for Sports
2) KU is known as a 'Party School' thanks to the overwhelming pull of the Greek Community.

September 10, 2009 at 4:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

oosdad (anonymous) says...

(1) Raising the admissions standards does not have to affect athletics at all. Schools like USC (USNews rank 26), Florida (USNews rank 47) and Texas (tied at USNews rank 47) have not had any difficulty being football powers and maintaining reasonably high academic standards. North Carolina (USNews rank 28) and Duke (USNews rank 10) have been basketball powers while maintaining their academic standards. The fact is schools (including KU) have different admissions standards for athletes. The rationale is that these students have talents that contribute to the student life (and finances) of the university.

(2) I would question whether KU is really perceived as a party school. (To an outsider, Lawrence, KS is a great college town but does not immediately come to mind as a party location. Tulane in New Orleans or Univ. of Miami would have much more of a draw as party schools than Kansas would and are tied for 50 in USNews.) A party school reputation (assuming KU actually has one) or a large Greek Community and higher academic standards are not mutually exclusive. This year's No. 1 party school in Princeton Review, Penn State, is ranked 47 academically (tied with Florida and Texas) in USNews. Many highly ranked academic schools (most of the Big Ten for instance) have large Greek Communities. There are other factors (admissions standards being high on the list) that contribute to KU's lower rankings.

The fact is KU has many excellent programs and students. It is a much better school than its difficulty of getting in. While the validity of rankings can be questioned, it is a fact that rankings affect the perception of the value of your degree.

In my opinion, the state of Kansas has been crazy to keep the admissions criteria for KU as low as it has. It is commendable that the state has chosen to make higher education available to all and it is consistent with the state's populist tradition. However, if 20% of KU students leave after freshman year and only 60% graduate after 6 years, those who flunk out or can't finish are wasting their time and money (and the taxpayers' money supporting the university). They would be better served by other schools in the state system. Perhaps new standards can be flexible enough to allow the University to identify and admit high potential students whose numbers alone are not necessarily reflective of their potential. However, the state flagship university(ies) should entice the brightest students to stay in-state and draw bright ambitious students from other states and thus serve to build up the state's economy. High paying business will want to locate near a well qualified work force and many of these students will choose to stay in the state and eventually start businesses of their own. KU has had some success keeping bright Kansas residents in state and drawing out of state students (particularly to its highly ranked programs) but its overall ranking has been an impediment.

September 11, 2009 at 9:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

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