Korean Educational Development Institute(KEDI)

The growing influence of the U.S. News & World Report rankings has contributed to the competitive environment of higher education, in which institutional survival is contingent on an institution’s ability to acquire and maintain resources. There are academic and financial incentives for institutions to increase their rank. As a result, institutions are altering their behavior in an attempt to increase their rank. These shifts in institutional behavior warrant ongoing research examining the ranking methodology, the costs/benefits of an institution’s change in rank, and the factors that explain changes in rank. This study examines the variables that are most important in explaining changes in institutional ranking from 2006-2008 in the U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges issues, and how the variables that are most important in explaining change in institutional rank vary by public and private institutions.