Rankings do not measure the uniqueness of Dartmouth's niche.
As you are no doubt aware, each year U.S. News & World Report ranks universities and colleges. Last year Dartmouth ranked number ten in the category they call "national universities," and this year we are number 11. Independent of these ranking systems, there is no doubt in my mind that we are one of the very best undergraduate institutions in the country, and I am immensely proud of that fact.
U.S. News & World Report started ranking colleges and universities 13 years ago, and in that time Dartmouth's rank has ranged from sixth to this year's eleventh. While Dartmouth has certainly changed during that time, I would say that it has been for die better. We have implemented a new curriculum that better prepares our students for the world in which they will live and work. We also continue to admit extremely talented students indeed during the intervening years our selectivity and the average S.A.T. scores of entering students have increased significantly. Our students benefit from being able to work alongside the very best faculty who are, in turn, committed to excellence in both teaching and research. And we continue to benefit from the significant generosity of our alumni, ranking second in our category in alumni giving. Indeed, Dartmouth actually improved or remained the same in a majority of the variables considered by U.S. News.
If Dartmouth has changed for the better over the past 11 years, then clearly those changes do not explain our change in ranking. That is due more to changes the magazine has implemented in the methodology that it uses to rank institutions. Last year the magazine began to count all institutional expenditures, including those spent on items that are not related to the undergraduate experience. This year the magazine carried this approach further by standardizing the results in several categories, which took into account not only rank order but also the magnitude of differences between schools in each category. Those institutions with large graduate and professional programs or major research centers received an advantage, as did schools with an emphasis on science and engineering. Thus, the California Institute of Technology jumped from ninth place last year to first this year displacing such perennial powers as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, which last year shared the top spot. The change in methodology is a particularly puzzling—if not frustrating development.
The changes, especially those in the past two years, have therefore worked against the special niche that Dartmouth occupies and favor those institutions with large graduate and professional schools and massive federally funded research programs. Academic institutions are located along a continuum that ranges from the small teaching college at one end to the large research university at the other. This spectrum is not hierarchical. Different objectives, characteristics, and strengths tend to mark these institutions. One of Dartmouth's particular strengths is that we blend the best features of an undergraduate liberal arts college with those of a major research institution.
While U.S. News does an excellent job of focusing attention on the quality of some aspects of higher education, it does notmea-sure nor purport to measure the full spectrum of undergraduate life. It does not measure, for example, the strength of the curriculum, the accessibility of faculty, or the quality of instruction. You will recall that a few years ago, U.S. News ranked Dartmouth number one in its commitment to excellence in teaching. They have not repeated that survey nor does it play a role in their overall ranking system.
There are several important things that Dartmouth does that are not measured in the rankings. These include our commitment to ensuring that Dartmouth remains accessible to as broad a range of students as possible. The College is one of only a handful of schools that admits students on a needblind basis and then guarantees those students the full amount of scholarship support that they require to attend Dartmouth. I am very proud of the financial aid initiative that we undertook last year, which has ensured we remain competitive in this area.
A second element not measured by U.S. News is diversity and its contribution to the educational environment. Dartmouth has a historical commitment to diversity that dates back to our founding charter. I am determined that we will remain true to our mission and am delighted that this year we admitted one of the most diverse classes in our history.
The U.S. News rankings cannot possibly capture all the nuances of a place like Dartmouth. Part of our strength lies in bringing students and faculty together in this very special place. I have always believed, and continue to believe, that Dartmouth ranks in the top ten institutions in the quality of the undergraduate experience that we offer. And, for the record, as I think about what is important in undergraduate education, we rank nearer the top of those ten institutions than the bottom. We need to continue to improve our programs but I never doubt that we begin from a position of strength.
