The U.S. News and World Report came out with their much-anticipated college rankings this week, and ASU was ranked No. 132, jumping up 11 places.
But according to The Arizona Republic, the University was the No. 78 academic university internationally in a list put out by the Center for World-Class Universities in China and was ranked No. 161 by the U.K. paper, The Times.
If no one can agree where we stand either nationally or internationally, what’s in a ranking?
As might be expected, in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, colleges that had lower acceptance rates ranked higher. Case in point: Harvard and Princeton tied for the top ranking with 7.2 percent and 8.8 percent acceptance rates, respectively.
It is a given that Ivy League schools will always finish in the top spots of college rankings, but these schools have a reputation built around exclusivity.
In contrast, ASU has an acceptance rate of 88.6 percent.
Even large public schools with lower acceptance rates finished ahead of ASU. University of Texas-Austin finished No. 45; this is a school with an enrollment of a little over 38,000, and it only has an acceptance rate of 47 percent. Another large school, Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, was ranked No. 55. They have a student body of over 42,000 and an acceptance rate of 68 percent.
These rankings beg the question, how can ASU be measured against other universities when we are challenging the preconceived notion that fewer are better?
The W.P. Carey School of Business, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College are all nationally ranked.
While these programs may enjoy stellar reputations around the world, they are often defined by whom they include rather than whom they exclude.
This is a recipe for success in the future. If America wishes to remain an economic power in an increasing competitiveness in a global economy, then it will need a more educated work force.
Unfortunately, universities have a choice — they can either get great PR from having lower acceptance rates or they can take the lead and educate all who deserve a chance.
Furthermore, this ranking is not an accurate picture of the University. There are many incredibly bright students at this school that are proud to be Sun Devils, but when a school is made up of over 72,000 students, not everyone can be a National Merit Scholar or a Flinn Scholar.
Yes, ASU moved up in the rankings this year, but the University continues to fight the notion that inclusivity is a bad thing.
ASU should not change what it does.
Rather, we must constantly fight for a different vision of higher education, a vision that prepares more of the country for the future than ever before.
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