Oberlin ranked 22nd in the U S News and World Report annual ranking of America's best liberal arts colleges for 1998, up from its rank of 24th last year.
"As far as the rankings go, they are based on surveys filled out by colleges," said Scott Wargo, news service manager in the office of public relations.
The rankings are based on 81 statistical measures. The measures include the seven broad categories of academic reputation, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, value added, and the alumni giving rate.
After the scores are added the top ranking school is given an overall score of 100, which is used to calibrate the list. Overall, Oberlin scored 85 out of 100 points. Swarthmore College was the top-ranked school.
Ross Peacock, director of institutional research, said he compiles the information for the survey that is distributed by the magazine to schools throughout the country. Commenting on the relevance and usefulness of the rankings, Wargo said, "It is more of a gauge for potential students to look at. The specifics are left out. It is one of many tools prospectives should use."
"What it basically says is that Oberlin is one of the best national liberal arts colleges," Wargo said.
Vice-President of Public Relations Al Moran said, "We've reversed our downward movement on their statistical charts."
The magazine's explanation of the report stated that no significant changes were made to the methodology this year. The final score of each school is rounded to the nearest whole number, which creates more ties in the rankings. Counting ties, Oberlin ranked 23rd.
Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 2, September 12, 1997
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