UCLA placed third, behind UC Berkeley and UC San Diego, in Washington Monthly’s newest set of college rankings. The magazine chose to emphasize each university’s amount of public service and research rather than focusing on academic factors.
UCLA was previously ranked as the second best public national university, according to U.S. News and World Report, and second overall in Washinton Monthly’s 2008 rankings.
According to Lawrence Lokman, UCLA’s associate vice chancellor and head of UCLA Communications & Public Outreach, faculty members at UCLA believe this newest set of rankings is an opportunity for colleges to focus on the public impact of their schools through emphasis on research, the number of Pell grants given to students and affordability.
Lokman said that the Washington Monthly’s rankings demonstrate the strength of UCLA’s educational research and public service.
“UCLA takes pride in its civic service to the community,” Lokman said. He also said that these rankings reinforce UCLA’s mobility for low-income and first-generation students planning to attend college.
Lokman said UCLA faculty is not concerned about UCLA’s third place ranking because the college rankings fluctuate from year to year.
He also said he is confident that UCLA’s large amount of research grants and scholarships will continue to positively impact UCLA’s national rankings.
Some students are not as pleased with the new system of college rankings and express concern over additional factors that were not considered in the rankings.
Daniel Yeh, a third-year electrical engineering student, said the Washington Monthly’s rankings were not representative of UCLA’s academic opportunities and the professional skills an education at the UCs provides students.
“While affordability and research are important factors in judging a university, the academic and educational resources that a school provides are crucial in the decision-making process for a prospective student,” Yeh said.
Courtney Powell, a recent UCLA alumna, said the rankings offer a limited look at the student body of UCLA because of their focus on low-income students and the highlighting of limited campus organizations.
Powell said academic factors such as classes, professors and school activities are issues that affect the entire student population and should possess a greater emphasis in college rankings.
“I highly doubt that anyone will consider the amount of funding for low-income students or percentage of alumni who join the Peace Corps when they think of what their college experience will be like,” Powell said.
While students and faculty may have mixed reactions to Washington Monthly’s decision to focus on service rather than academics in their latest set of rankings, it appears that new factors are now being taken into consideration in the creation of college rankings.
Lokman said UCLA does not take such rankings into account when considering funding and acceptance rates. Instead, he said the focus of UCLA will be promoting the standards of excellence and public service that UCLA has continued to reinforce.
“No set of rankings will ever fully encompass the quality of the UC’s educational and public service standards,” he said.