The Validity of the 2004 U.S. News & World Report's Rankings of Schools of Social Work

Abstract

The exceedingly influential U.S. News & World Report's rankings of the educational quality of graduate schools of social work are based on responses of a small group of deans and faculty members to a single item on a mailed survey. This study evaluated the validity of these "quick and dirty" commercial ratings by comparing the 2004 USNWR results to three more objective measures of overall program quality--admissions selectivity, faculty publications, and program longevity--and by conducting a replication study of 1516 deans, faculty members, students, and practitioners. Results revealed USNWR rankings are consistent with objective indicators of program success and representative of the views of a larger sample of deans, faculty members, and to a lesser degree, of practitioners and students. In spite of this empirical support, the authors recommend strategies for eliminating the reliance on commercial ratings and developing professionally driven and disseminated systems of evaluating graduate schools.