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.

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.”

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.

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