Colorado College placed No. 34 in the latest U.S. News and World Report national liberal arts colleges ranking, published on Sept. 22.
CC fell four spots from its previous rank of No. 30, placing in a four-way tie with Franklin & Marshall College, Mount Holyoke College and Spelman College.
According to the report, the top three liberal arts colleges are Williams College, Amherst College and Bowdoin College. In the national university rankings, MIT made headlines after knocking Princeton University from the top spot for the first time in 15 years.
This year marks CC’s third consecutive drop in the annual standings and the second since CC rejoined the rankings last year. This drop, initially from No. 29 to No. 30 and then from No. 30 to No. 34, comes as CC faces a competitive higher education climate and enrollment challenges. Over the past decade, CC has largely been ranked between 25 and 30.
In a statement to The Catalyst, Colorado College President Manya Whitaker acknowledged the rankings as an important tool for recruitment and visibility, especially for first-generation and international families. “Because rankings are part of how families navigate an increasingly complex search process, I believe CC should be represented,” Whitaker said.
However, Whitaker also believes the rankings have limitations, saying that they “provide insight on a few inputs and outputs but fail to capture the heart of the student experience at CC — a strong sense of community, engagement with campus life, the impact of faculty-student relationships, academic rigor, applied learning opportunities, institutional affinity and pride.”
U.S. News’ ranking methodology has produced greater year-over-year mobility for many schools, as the publication predicted would occur in August.
Specifically, U.S. News introduced a new “earnings by major” category, which evaluates schools based on earnings four years after graduation for employed students who received federal financial aid compared with the national median earnings for students in their major.
The new category, weighted at 5% of the overall ranking and using U.S. Department of Education data, replaced the previous “student indebtedness” category, which rewarded schools with low average graduate debt.
This switch caused multiple schools to experience large shifts, including Hobart and William Smith Colleges, which jumped up 13 spots in the liberal arts ranking.
U.S. News argued that evaluating schools based on earnings by major was a better metric for analyzing outcomes and addressing the question of whether college is worth it. However, the metric is less useful for smaller schools like CC, since it only applies to majors with more than 30 students, according to the report. For this reason, U.S. News ranks small liberal arts colleges on “median institutional earnings” across all majors, compared to peer schools, providing less detailed information about specific programs.
The publication also added many specialized and professionally-focused schools to rankings for the first time, underscoring the changing nature of the higher education landscape.
Though Whitaker has made reaching the top 25 in the U.S. News rankings — a feat last accomplished in 2021 — a priority in her Claim Our Space strategic plan, she said that her goal is not to “chase opaque metrics” but rather to ensure the CC community “will continue to be who we are and to do what we do, well.”