Opinion > August 28, 2008

The university’s new, slightly higher position in US News & World Report’s annual college ranking is a good thing.

Twenty-eighth out of the more than 200 schools reviewed is amazing. We see it as a continuation of the strong reputation that was built during Hearn’s tenure and as a positive report of Hatch’s first four years here. It does say something positive that we avoided dropping 50 places after Hatch took over.

We acknowledge that a change in rankings of only one or two spots is nothing more substantial than simply “statistical noise.” But we’ve also got to admit that it feels pretty good to beat UNC- Chapel Hill this year, which unfortunately finds itself ranked 30th.

Our sympathies also go out to Duke University who was left out of the all-exclusive list of top five universities again this year.

The truth of the matter is that even though these rankings can only offer the most basic idea of what type of school the various universities listed are, they do matter. Graduating high schoolers pay a lot of attention to them, and they can provide big bragging rights or embarrassing shame.

And as our university undergoes certain major changes in the next few years, we can only hope that we maintain our status, or even better, move up on the list. More applicants to the school, broader admissions recruiting, a more diverse incoming class and a larger student base are all things that will undoubtedly impact our rank in the future and we hope it does so positively.

Also, it will be interesting to see how the new SAT policy affects admissions and our rankings, although we aren’t sure if it will at all. Either way, our fingers are crossed.