US News and World Report recently released national graduate school rankings for 2009, naming the University's Law School ninth and the Darden School 14th in their classes. Despite the recognition, school administrators claim the rankings have more impact on prospective students than on the schools themselves.
"The ranking is not a big deal for us," said Stephen Parr, Law School associate dean for management and finance. "Our rankings have remained relatively stable over a long period of time."
Though rankings can fluctuate for different reasons, the Law School is continually recognized as a top-10 school, Parr said.
Ken White, Darden vice president of communication said, in general, rankings play a larger role for applicants because they can use them as a guide.
"Most people I have met have considered the rankings as a part of their decision," White said. "When you meet the publishers of the magazines, they tell you that's exactly what they're trying to do -- to create a guide."
For Darden officials, the more important aspect of the rankings is not the ranking itself, but rather the results of the surveys used in determining a school's final placement, White said.
White explained that to compile a final ranking, magazines such US News and World Report and Forbes survey corporations and university graduates to compile information. After the ranking is released, the University has the opportunity to obtain the results of these surveys. In the past, the rankings have provided the University with such data as their "return on investment," meaning the amount of money a student made after graduation compared to before attending business school.
Because each news media source that produces a list of rankings uses different surveys and compiles different data, it is not useful for a school to focus solely on one ranking, White said.
University spokesperson Carol Wood echoed these sentiments.
"I think that we always say that it's nice to be ranked, but we don't live and die by them," Wood said. "If we do things right, the rankings will come."
Bob Morse, director of data research for U.S. News and World Report, said the rankings are meant to provide evaluative information to compare one program to another on a set of limited data points. Rankings "provide a certain type of information about the school, not an overall picture," Morse said.
Other University graduate schools that garnered a place in this year's US News and World Report include the 38th-ranked Engineering School, the 31st-ranked Education School and the Medical School, which ranked 23rdfor research and 35th for primary care.
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