U.S. News changes its college rankings to emphasize diversity and remove alumni giving

U.S. News & World Report announced changes to the methodology of its controversial Best Colleges rankings to emphasize the success of diverse students and to remove the influence of alumni giving and class size, the media company said in a statement.

The 2024 Best Colleges rankings, set to be released in the fall, will feature more emphasis on a school's "success in graduating students from different backgrounds," the company said.

In addition, the methodology will remove metrics on alumni giving, faculty with the highest degrees in their fields, class size and high school standing of the entering class. Those will be included in school profiles but not in the rankings themselves.

The changes come amid longstanding backlash to the U.S. News rankings, the popular and influential listicle closely monitored by schools, alumni, parents and students alike.

Since its founding 40 years ago, U.S. News has repeatedly tweaked its methodology, although the schools atop the rankings - primarily the Ivy League schools and several California universities - have generally remained the same.

According to the 2022-2023 rankings, Princeton is rated No. 1 among national universities, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology second and Harvard, Stanford and Yale tied for third.

Critics say the rankings feed into the obsession with elite status rather than a school's specific fit for a particular student. The college admissions scam known as "Operation Varsity Blues," for example, laid bare the lengths that wealthy parents were willing to go to get their children into universities perceived as more prestigious.