By Jionardi Hindrawan
Asst. Vice Provost for Int'l Education
State University of New York, Buffalo

For the international student who is interested in applying to a US college or university, the process of selecting a suitable institution has become more difficult and confusing. It is not just that there are so many institutions and such a variety of programs and courses, but also that there is so much information to consider when making a decision. An entire industry has developed in the US to market academic programs and to advise prospective students, both foreign and domestic, on how to choose the "best" institution and program.

In addition to the marketing and recruitment materials produced by colleges and universities, private companies such as Petersons, Kaplan and Princeton Review are also among those which have developed a tool that many American students find useful when selecting a higher education program. In addition to the publishers mentioned above, widely respected reports such as The Gourman Report by Dr. Jack Gourman of National Education Standards, as well as popular magazines such as US News and World Report and Money Magazine, issue periodic rankings of US undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs to help prospective students make sense of all the information and to facilitate their selection of programs.

Typically, these publications provide lists of the "top" ten, twenty-five, or one-hundred institutions or programs in the country in terms of academic quality/reputation, or value for the money. The rankings are based on various criteria, depending on the publication, and take into account the quality of the students, faculty, facilities, and curricula.

In some cases, the primary basis for the rankings are evaluations provided by faculty - usually deans, department chairs, and others with administrative responsibility - who have been surveyed by a third party and asked to rate the programs in their own discipline in terms of their reputation for scholarship, quality of faculty and students, facilities and curriculum.

For example, the rankings published by US News and World Report are compiled from surveys of faculty who used a five-point scale, with five indicating "distinguished" and one "marginal." The responses are added up and divided by the number of respondents to yield an average ranking for each program.

The premise of these ranking systems is that it is the faculty in a particular field who can best judge which programs are "better" and which are "worse." The principle of "peer review" is central to the academic system and profession in the US and applies to the evaluation of individual academics for purposes of promotion as well as of institutions for purposes of accreditation.

Can these rankings be trusted, and are they useful to a prospective international student? The answer to both of these questions is a qualified "yes." The rankings compiled by the most well known US publishers are fairly reliable because they are based on relevant objective factors and the consensus view of many faculty in the respective fields and therefore can be helpful to both domestic and international students.

However, the value of the rankings is limited so they should never be the sole basis for a decision but should be considered in the context of other factors, such as the student's specific academic or research interests, educational goals and financial resources; and the type of institution, its location and facilities for international students, and the amount of financial assistance it can offer. Besides reviewing the rankings, a student should check on whether an institution is properly accredited and whether it is a member of one of the national organizations of universities such as the elite American Association of Universities (AAU), or NASULGC, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.

There is a significant difference to be kept in mind between the ranking which an institution as a whole received and that which its individual programs, especially its graduate and professional programs, are given. It is not at all unusual for a highly regarded university to have top-ranked programs in certain disciplines and less well ranked programs in others. Prospective students should consider both the institution's overall ranking and that of the specific academic program they are interested in .

In sum, my advice to the prospective student is to read carefully the current rankings produced by several of the reputable publishers, and to consider this information as one factor, though not the most important, among others influencing your decision. Keep in mind the criteria that have been used in the rankings you consult.

The most important thing is to have a clear understanding of your own interest and goals in studying in the US There is no substitute, moreover, for a thorough reading of all materials provided by the institutions being considered. If possible, it helps to consult directly with a friend or colleague who has already attended the program you are interested in and, even better, to visit the campus of an institution you wish to apply to.