Will Paying for SAT Scores Boost Baylor's Ranking?

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the raking is kind is kind of the problem, for the student like i said before in a confrence the grade matters more than the learning its self and thats the problem i had when i was younger

kara martin of TX 10:39AM November 18, 2009

Before you all crucify Baylor University's administration, have you pondered on the economic benefit that the $300 book scholarship and the $1000 merit scholarship that the Baylor freshmen received. You all should be ashamed of yourselves for judging a book by its cover. Is there anything wrong in trying to help out students financially - even if it means retaking a test as simple as the SAT. Why are we all looking for a scape goat to punish rather than an angel. Please reconsider.

Bucknor Macade of TX 1:03PM November 18, 2008

I imagine that the peer assessment metric is used as a way of comparing apples and oranges. Raw data about graduation rates and SAT scores might be too close for the folks here who rank things (which by the way, seems as American as apple pie), so they've come up with the somewhat arbitrary peer assessment. No statistic alone is dispositive, but it can be at least informative. Baylor suffers somewhat from a perception that the school is not as competitive and the quality of education is not as good as other schools. If the students are getting a quality education, then who really cares? If you don't like it, create your own rankings system.
Baylor can't have it both ways. They can't complain that the ranking system treats them unfairly and then use such obviously manipulative tactics to skew their scores. This is not to say that no one else plays this game (I'm guessing most schools play fast and loose with "spending per student" and tuition rates), but if you cheat so openly, you're going to get caught. Maybe they need to accept that going up 26 positions in such a short period of time is imminently unreasonable. Maybe a long term plan (that's not tied to someone's job performance, maybe?) aimed at improving job placement and the student/faculty ratio would have better results.

Paul W. of TX 4:42PM October 23, 2008

Why doesn't U.S. News drop the peer assessment aspect altogether and focus on measurable outputs and value-added data, like income after graduating, number of prize winners in fields, amount of debt at graduation, percentage of people who get Ph.D.s after graduating, percentage of pre-meds who enter who actually get into a med school, etc. These are things people want to know about! U.S. News has a lot of power and money to use in gathering data, why doesn't it both to go get good data.

Steve of FL 6:31PM October 21, 2008

I'm sorry that Baylor officials have chickened out in response to negative comments about their practice. Turns out the payments will be a one-time only thing. Students are paid for all sorts of performances on standardized tests-usually indirectly by receiving course credit or advanced standing. Why not SATs?
The fact that USN&WR disapproves of colleges doing what they can to manipulate rankings matters not at all. Rankings are a bogus measure that have done nothing to improve college quality but inevitably result in colleges being forced into playing the game. Perhaps somewhere MR. Morse could post the revenue figures USN&WR realizes for its "best colleges" industry relative to its other offerings.

Patrick Mattimore 4:28PM October 19, 2008

Can a university's quality be measured? Perhaps not.
Can its reputation be undermined. Clearly.
Charles Golden
Baylor University, BA English '93
Baylor University, MA English '96
Embarrassed, '08

Charles H. Golden of KS 11:49AM October 17, 2008

As a Baylor student, I am baffled as to why certain people of the Baylor Administration would decide manipulation of SAT scores was a valid way to increase the school's ranking. On the other hand, as a journalism student I am proud of the Baylor Lariat for having brought this story to light. It is now a nationwide example of how well prepared Baylor journalism students are to enter the world as investigative, non-partisan watchdogs of governments and institutions.
I agree with the above commentator: the quality of a university cannot be measured. As a senior at Baylor I know that the quality of education I have received is of great value. Self-embarrasing incidents such as this one cannot undo this.

Christine Bolanos of TX 11:01AM October 17, 2008

Just like students, universities will strive toward that which is measured. For students, getting the grade often becomes more important than learning itself. This article describes an example of the same thing on a macroscopic or bureaucratic scale. The university as an institution (and the individuals that decided this was a good idea) care too much about the ranking, and the problem, I believe, lies with US News' rankings themselves. Why does US News even compile these rankings? Is it from some altruistic motive to improve our education as a nation? Or is it to sell magazines?
Can we really judge the quality of the university using the metrics of research dollars obtained or average SAT scores? Are not factors such as faculty morale and the institutional valuation of quality teaching more important than standardized test scores? These things can't be measured. But if you can't measure it, you can't rank it in a magazine!

Brian Thomas of TX 12:41AM October 17, 2008

Wow. I've been waiting years for this. We've seen admissions standards manipulated to artificially inflate app pools so schools can accept fewer students (thereby lowering their acceptance rates), but this tops it all. Here's another idea- how about ACTUALLY improving the academic quality being offered by a school as a way to improve the academic quality of the incoming class. Novel idea, huh?

Peter Kraft of NJ 2:59PM October 16, 2008