ANNAPOLIS, Md., June 21 (UPI) -- Presidents of some of the top U.S. liberal arts colleges discussed in Annapolis, Md., a possible boycott of U.S. News and World Report's college ranking system.
About 80 presidents and 71 academic deans from the Annapolis Group, an organization made up of 121 private and liberal arts colleges, met this week to discuss refusing to participate in the magazine's "reputation survey," a portion of the ranking system based on surveys filled out by college presidents, CNN reported Thursday.
Todd Wilson, director of communications for Sarah Lawrence College, one of the schools considering a boycott, said the reputation survey is "a collegiate beauty contest that is not a valid basis for judging the quality of education."
Kate Will, chairwoman of the Annapolis Group, said a majority of the group's members expressed interest in a boycott of the survey, which she said is "not educationally valid research."
Lloyd Thacker, executive director of The Education Conservancy, told CNN that "rankings have reduced students to consumers, education to product and gaining admission into college a high-priced game that has to be played."
The Annapolis Group also agreed to develop an alternative format to present information about their colleges for students and their families to use in the college search process.
