Okay, you need to read this:
Here's the deal: Bob Morse writes for U.S. News and World Report (the creators of the infamous college rankings). Recently I heard Bob speak at a conference and say, "ranking is 100% wrong as the sole basis for school selection." Now he's backed it up on his own blog. The IHEP report basically cautions policy makers not to rely too heavily on rankings. Bob says this himself, "The IHEP report is correct to point out that top academics and boards of trustees at colleges need to consider the many complicated issues that can develop when they use the U.S. News rankings to set policy goals. We fully back the conclusion of the report that institutions need to use rankings responsibly as just one tool for assessment. "
I would go further to say that students and families need to understand that ranking is just one tool for assessment. Ultimately U.S. News and World Report will continue to provide rankings (along with other publications) because it is what consumers want. But what consumers NEED is to go beyond the rankings and collect additional data to make informed school selections.