Chip Timmons - An article in the current edition of Forbes highlights the Center for College Affordability & Productivity (CCAP) college rankings.  The CCAP is a two-year-old research organization in Washington, D.C. that in their words "evaluates colleges on results".  

The author, Richard Vedder, isn't a big fan of the more popular U.S. News and World Report rankings saying "I think the U.S. News rankings ought to get a D. They're roughly equivalent to evaluating a chef based on the ingredients he or she uses."  I heard Dr. Vedder speak at a conference in Minneapolis two years ago and remember leaving his talk impressed.  He did not overwhelm his audience with slides and data.  Instead, he reminded us of the core mission of higher education and warned against schools funneling dollars into programs that are not geared toward the students, especially the undergraduate students.  

In my view, it seems more and more students and families are becoming disenchanted with the well-known college rankings and opting for more results-driven guidebooks like Colleges That Change Lives.  I've heard Loren Pope, the author of College That Change Lives, use the analogy of a hospital when describing how one view the college search.  Do you evaluate a hospital based upon how the patients are feeling when they are admitted or when they are released? I'm sure Loren put this more eloquently, but the point is, you should look at colleges the same way.  

Whether you employ analogies with chefs or hospitals, what happens to students during their four years on campus and the success that follows best measures the quality of the institution.