Sep
15
10:30pm
Breaking Ranks: An Evening with Colin Diver
By The Mercantile Library
Just in time for the college application process, Colin Diver joins us to discuss his book, Breaking Ranks: How the Rankings Industry Rules Higher Education, and What to Do About It
Since U.S. News & World Report first published a college ranking in 1983, the rankings industry has become a self-appointed judge, declaring winners and losers among America’s colleges and universities. In this revealing account, Colin Diver shows how popular rankings have induced college applicants to focus solely on pedigree and prestige, while tempting educators to sacrifice academic integrity for short-term competitive advantage. By forcing colleges into standardized best-college hierarchies, he argues, rankings have threatened the institutional diversity, intellectual rigor, and social mobility that is the genius of American higher education.
As a former university administrator who refused to play the game, Diver leads his readers on an engaging journey through the mysteries of college rankings, admissions, financial aid, spending policies, and academic practices
Colin Diver was formerly the president of Reed College, a trustee of Amherst College, and the dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he is currently the Charles A. Heimbold Jr. Professor of Law and Economics Emeritus.
Copies of Breaking Ranks are available for sale courtesy of Joseph-Beth Cincinnati
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The Mercantile Library
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