Dartmouth placed 11th in the U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best University" ranking, falling from ninth place last year, U.S. News announced on Sept. 13. Harvard University and Princeton University tied for first place, while Yale University placed third, consistent with past years' top three rankings.
Although Dartmouth fell in the "Best University" U.S. News list this year, the College's score in the overall ranking increased from 90 to 91, according to Justin Anderson, director of media relations for the College.
"The schools that we find ourselves being compared to are a good group," Anderson said.
Dartmouth tied with Princeton for the number one spot in the "Best Undergraduate Teaching" category, marking the third year in a row since the category was created that the College has secured the top spot, but the first year Dartmouth has shared the distinction with another university.
The College was also ranked seventh in the "Best Value Schools" category, a ranking that accounts for both academic quality and net cost of the institution, according to U.S. News.
Amidst budget cuts last year, the Board of Trustees approved a 5.9-percent increase in tuition, room, board and fees for the 2011-2012 academic year, making Dartmouth the second most expensive Ivy League institution at $55,365 per year.
Dartmouth placed fifth in the "High School Counselors' Picks," jumping from the 11th place spot last year. Of the top 25 schools ranked in U.S. News' report, Dartmouth placed 10th for economic diversity tied with Cornell University with 16 percent of its undergraduate students receiving Pell Grants.
U.S. News uses 16 variables to determine a university's score, Robert Morse, director of data research at U.S. News, said in an interview with The Dartmouth. These variables include academic reputation, admissions data, alumni giving, financial resources and high school counselor reputation.
Dartmouth's decline in the ranking represents only a minor variation, Morse said.
"Dartmouth had a very small I'm stressing the word very small change in admissions data and faculty resources data," Morse said.
In last year's ranking, Dartmouth tied for ninth place with Duke University and the University of Chicago. This year, the University of Chicago and Duke placed above Dartmouth, but no new institutions were ranked before the College.
Anderson emphasized that the rankings have not changed substantially from last year and do not represent a negative turn for the College.
"I think that if you look at the overall list, there was very little movement this year," he said. "It's a slightly different order, but it's all pretty much the same."
Dartmouth's fall in the rankings does not signal that the College should change course or readjust its focus, Anderson said. By concentrating on what Dartmouth does well including recruiting and retaining the best teachers and providing state-of-the-art resources to conduct research the rankings will "take care of themselves," Anderson said.
"Our longstanding commitment remains: to recruit top-notch faculty and invest in facilities and resources, while constantly improving our ability to produce the best students and first-rate research," Provost Carol Folt said in a College press release.
Dartmouth's continued strength in the undergraduate teaching category is one of the keys to the College's role as a leading undergraduate institution, Anderson said.
Economics professor Bruce Sacerdote said that regardless of Dartmouth's placement on the U.S. News list, it is clear that Dartmouth focuses on providing undergraduates with a high-quality education and the College is committed to continuously improving the undergraduate experience, Sacerdote said.
"We're clearly right up there on the frontier," he said, adding that the expanding research opportunities and the consistent hiring of new faculty at the College illustrate the Board of Trustees' emphasis on undergraduate education.
Government professor John Carey applauded the hard work of his colleagues in ensuring that undergraduates receive the most current and relevant education.
"We're near or at the top for a reason people put a lot of care here into their teaching," he said. "We may pay more attention to rankings than we ought to, but it's nice to be number one."
The strength of Dartmouth's undergraduate teaching attracts students from across the country to the College, according to several students interviewed by The Dartmouth.
"The great undergraduate teaching is one of the big reasons I came to Dartmouth," Wilson Chockley '15 said.
Although various higher education experts have commented on the fickle nature of rankings and have urged students to consider personal factors when assessing colleges, various students said rankings are a valuable tool in determining which colleges to apply to and eventually attend.
"It was an important part of my application decision," Andrew Li '15 said. "Being on campus, it feels like Dartmouth deserves that ranking because every professor I've met has been so supportive."
