U.S. News Reveals Why One University Has Plummeted 46 Spots In Its Best Colleges Ranking

Robert Morse points out that over 2010 t0 2014, Howard University fell from 96th to 142nd on U.S. News' university rankings - 46 spots. In the past year alone, Howard dropped 22 spots from 120th in 2013.

There are two broad reasons that Morse cites to explain Howard's fall. The first is that the school's scores in a variety of rankable criteria have declined:

Additionally, Morse reports, Howard has declined to fill out U.S. News' statistical survey for the past two reporting cycles, which provides the basis for much of its rankings. In order to complete this year's rankings, U.S. News was forced to estimate stats such as alumni giving rate using data from previous years.

"Therefore, Howard's decline in the most recent rankings was mainly due to its administrative inability or refusal to report its most recent data about itself to U.S. News," Morse writes.

U.S. News' college rankings are often derided, but can help change public opinion in a school, for better or for worse. They are seen as so important by some people that Howard's recent drop has been cited as a reason for university president Sidney A. Ribeau's abrupt retirement announcement last Tuesday.

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