After moving to No. 58 on the U.S. News and World Report National University rankings, four spots lower than last year, Syracuse University should make a conscious effort to care about these ranking in order to improve its standing even more in upcoming years.

The rankings are based on a formula that considers graduation and freshmen retention rates, an institution’s academic reputation, student selectivity and faculty resources, among other things. In the 1990s, SU was ranked No. 40, but dropped to its lowest of No. 62 in 2011.

Though this ranking does not directly affect students’ time at SU, it matters to students choosing what universities to apply to and it matters post-graduation. A school can be judged on many factors beyond a number, but ultimately, ranking matters.

Chancellor Kent Syverud first came to campus, he said that rankings couldn’t be ignored, though the system of ranking is imperfect. Now that SU’s ranking has been released, the administration should use these rankings as resource to identify areas for improvement.

Something for the university to look at when considering its ranking, is the fact that individual colleges within SU are ranked highly, but the school overall is not.

The iSchool’s graduate program for Information Systems, for example, is ranked No. 1 by the U.S. News and World Report. The U.S. News and World Report also ranks Maxwell as the No. 1 school for public policy. The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the School of Architecture and the College of Visual and Performing Arts also consistently rank highly in their respective fields.

To potentially improve its overall ranking, the university should work to improve all of the colleges, especially those that aren’t as highly regarded. Though each college should have an individual identity, there should be a sense that Syracuse University as a whole is prestigious.

Moving from No. 62 to No. 58 on the U.S. News and World Report rankings is a good sign for SU. To see that number improve, the university should use the ranking as a gauge of its progress and strive for a better spot next year.

Published on September 11, 2014 at 12:50 am