“Right now, private rankings like U.S. News & World Report puts out each year…it encourages a lot of colleges to focus on ways to — how do we game the numbers?”

This comment from President Obama, its contorted grammar aside, hints at a critical and hidden reality. Many college policies, procedures and practices are designed solely to influence U.S. News rankings, not to improve education. Meanwhile, the U.S. News rankings fail to take many things into account that profoundly affect education and the overall college experience.