One of the most talked about but ultimately useless rankings came out Thursday when U.S. News & World Report released its college and university standings.

Harvard and Princeton share the top spot. Louisiana gets its first nod when Tulane checks in at No. 50. Louisiana State University finished at 128 while schools like the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Louisiana Tech University failed to crack the list.

The Associated Press said the ranking formula takes into account factors such as SAT scores, peer reputation, selectivity and alumni giving.

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Critics say the 26-year-old ranking rollout, which has spawned many imitators such as a similar effort by Forbes, pressures colleges to focus on boosting their scores instead of improving their teaching.

Any student attending a college that focuses its efforts at where it ranks on U.S. News & World Report’s list needs to find a new school.

There isn’t much real difference between the prestige of lists from U.S. News & World Report and Forbes and those put out by Playboy and the now defunct television program The Best Damn Sports Show Period. They are all a marketing ploy that puts sponsored material between advertisements.

When it comes to the college experience, few things matter more than the personal relationship each individual student has with a college or university. No ranking or formula could ever quantify how one teacher or administrator ignites a fire within a student that eventually leads to a career and family direction.

That part of the learning experience can’t be quantified, reported or otherwise statistically categorized.

There may be a lot of news this week because MIT was only tied for fourth on the U.S. News & World Report list, but for every major university attendee, there are normal students finding the spark he or she needs at places like New Iberia’s South Louisiana Community College. 

And no list can measure that.  

STEPHEN HEMELT

CITY EDITOR