Up until recently, I would have said “absolutely not!” to anyone asking me that question. The years we spend in classrooms involve much more than learning skills or information. How can we measure the value of late-night talk sessions about the meaning of life or the existence of God? Or political discussions? Or definitions of good and evil?

Yet we want measures for everything we do. We are addicted to “best” and “worst” lists, and that applies to the schools where we send our children as well as to celebrities and household gadgets. When it comes to colleges and universities, what measures do we rely on?