Columbia University’s ranking among the leading universities in the US fell from second to 18th place in 2022-23- reveals the latest report by US News and World Report.

In 2021, when the university was ranked second, US News had ‘unranked’ the Ivy League university following allegations of false data submitted by the institute. On September 9, Columbia University issued a statement and admitted to submitting incorrect information to the organisation, exaggerating its class sizes and the number of full-time faculty employed who carry terminal degrees. These elements are taken into account when calculating college ranks by the US News and World Report.

The university stated that it used “outdated or incorrect methodologies” in its previous years’ submissions for the rankings.

Mary Boyce, Columbia’s provost, stated that the Columbia undergraduate experience is and consistently has been centered around small classes taught by highly performed faculty. That fact is unchanged. But anything less than comprehensive precision in the data that we report – nevertheless of the size or the reason is inconsistent with the standards of superiority to which Columbia holds itself. We deeply regret the shortcomings in our previous reporting and are committed to doing better.

This came after a mathematics professor, Dr. Michael Thaddeus, questioned Columbia University’s extreme rise from 18th position in the year of its debut in 1988 to the 2nd position in 2021, outperformed only by Princeton and tied with Harvard and MIT. Thaddeus alleged data delivered by the institute was incompetent. He said that several key figures supporting Columbia’s high ranking are incorrect, dubious, or highly misleading.

Thaddeus also introduced an extensive analysis on the institute’s faculty website in February this year, analogizing the figures submitted to US News with numbers released internally by the institution.

In response, Columbia University has stated it will not submit data to participate in the US News and World Report college ranking next year. The institute also launched a review on the faculty’s problems over the data submitted to the organisation in its history.

This year, US News and World Report evaluated 1,500 US institutions granting undergraduate degrees. Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology secured the first and second positions for 2022-23. Harvard University, Yale University, and Stanford University were tied for the 3rd position.

The rankings are decided based on 17 parameters considering academic quality, including undergraduate academic reputation, graduation and retention rate, and financial resources per student, among others.

News Source: The Indian Express