(from The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Should College Presidents Be Ranked?
By Eric Kelderman
October 29, 2024
Some of the best-known college-ranking schemes have for decades put the wealthiest and most-selective institutions at or near the top. A new ranking puts Harvard University at 441st — fifth from the bottom.
The list, which comes from a recent American Enterprise Institute, highlights universities in a very different way — by ranking their presidents based on improving student outcomes.
AEI, a libertarian think tank, rewarded efforts such as cutting tuition, boosting the graduation rate, and increasing the racial and socioeconomic diversity of undergraduates. The higher the percent change on student-success measures, the higher the ranking for the college president …
Only 134 of the ranked presidents are currently in office. The top performers of that group were James T. Harris III, of the University of San Diego, who was ranked second; Renu Khator, of the University of Houston, ranked sixth; and Heather A. Wilson, of the University of Texas at El Paso, ranked seventh …
Presidents who ranked highly in the study were happy to tout their universities’ successes but eschewed any individual adulation …
Khator, who has been president of the University of Houston for more than 16 years, said her board does assess her performance based on student outcomes, as well as the amount of sponsored research the institution conducts …
The AEI study found that the University of Houston excelled at improving its diversity, increasing enrollment of first-time undergrads from underrepresented racial groups by an average of 0.6 percentage points per year.
Khator deflected any praise for her own performance. “No president does all of this alone,” Khator said. “You have a whole team behind you.”