Education
Columbia University Drops in U.S. News Rankings, From No. 2 to No. 18
Columbia College was demoted from No. 2 to No. 18 within the influential U.S. Information & World Report school rankings on Monday, about eight months after a Columbia math professor accused the college of fudging some key statistics used within the rankings.
The downgrade comes after Columbia introduced that it was trying into the professor’s allegations and stated that it was withdrawing from the rankings. On Friday, the eve of the brand new rankings, Columbia stated that it had submitted knowledge on class dimension and the variety of school members with superior levels utilizing outdated or incorrect methodologies.
U.S. Information put the blame for the lowered rating on Columbia officers in a press release on Monday, saying that it “requires a high-level educational official to attest to any knowledge submitted by establishments immediately.”
Columbia apologized for the errors, saying, “We deeply remorse the deficiencies in our prior reporting and are dedicated to doing higher.”
Nearly yearly, U.S. Information broadcasts that it has discovered discrepancies in knowledge submitted by universities for the rankings. However Columbia, an Ivy League establishment, might be essentially the most storied and prestigious college in current reminiscence to be accused of offering incorrect knowledge.
Current Points on America’s Faculty Campuses
U.S. Information has not stated whether or not the errors within the knowledge have been intentional or not, and Columbia stated they have been a outcome, a minimum of partially, of the “complexity” of the reporting necessities.
However the inaccuracies have created a notion of dishonest or dissembling round Columbia’s rating — and should have undermined the broader rankings system by revealing how straightforward it’s for universities to get away with submitting incorrect knowledge. After the maths professor, Michael Thaddeus, accused Columbia of submitting unhealthy knowledge, U.S. Information responded that it relied on the integrity of universities and didn’t have an impartial auditing system for the info.
Some consultants stated that there additionally appeared to be a vindictive component to Columbia’s demotion. In his unique critique, Dr. Thaddeus made a giant level of claiming that he believed Columbia’s rise within the rankings had been too fast to be true. He famous that the college ranked 18th in 1988 and vaulted to eighth in only one yr, largely as a result of the rankings methodology had been modified to rely extra on knowledge and fewer on a survey of fame amongst college presidents.
“I believe that’s precisely what was going to occur as soon as they realized they have been lied to,” stated Jed Macosko, a physics professor at Wake Forest College. Dr. Macosko is the pinnacle of AcademicInfluence.com, a rival firm of teachers and knowledge scientists who say they’re engaged on “an goal, non-gameable influence-based rating.”
“I want that U.S. Information weren’t so highly effective as a result of it makes for unhealthy dynamics,” Dr. Macosko stated. “So if the particular person in cost needs you to be No. 18, they’ll jiggle the U.S. Information rankings till you’re No. 18.”
U.S. Information stated that it was offering what it known as a client service “with the very best stage of integrity, for highschool graduates and their households to make selections.” Due to Columbia’s refusal to supply knowledge this yr, U.S. Information stated it had assembled knowledge from exterior sources for the brand new rating.
“We aren’t assured within the accuracy of the info Columbia submitted and didn’t use any prior yr knowledge,” U.S. Information stated. “For the 2022-2023 rankings, Columbia’s rank was calculated with knowledge from the U.S. Division of Training’s Nationwide Middle for Training Statistics, knowledge from the peer evaluation survey carried out by U.S. Information, the Faculty Scorecard and assigned aggressive set values for knowledge the place no third-party knowledge exists. Based mostly on these knowledge units, Columbia ranks No. 18 in nationwide universities.”
This yr, the rankings have been nonetheless predictable. Princeton ranked first, M.I.T. was second, whereas Harvard, Yale and Stanford tied for third. Final yr, Columbia was second to Princeton and tied with Harvard and M.I.T.
Columbia revealed on Friday that it had confirmed errors in two of the metrics questioned by Dr. Thaddeus: class dimension and the proportion of professors with the very best levels of their area.
“Whereas lots of Columbia’s undergraduate courses have lengthy had below 20 college students,” the college stated, “the prior methodologies used resulted in overreporting the variety of courses with below 20 college students and underreporting of courses with between 20 and 29 college students.”
On so-called terminal levels, Columbia stated that whereas the vast majority of school had at all times had the very best potential levels, the definition of terminal levels used within the U.S. Information rankings “in sure disciplines are completely different from Columbia’s necessities, leading to some overreporting.”
Education
Four Fraternity Members Charged After a Pledge Is Set on Fire
Four fraternity members at San Diego State University are facing felony charges after a pledge was set on fire during a skit at a party last year, leaving him hospitalized for weeks with third-degree burns, prosecutors said Monday.
The fire happened on Feb. 17, 2024, when the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity held a large party at its house, despite being on probation, court documents show. While under probation, the fraternity was required to “demonstrate exemplary compliance with university policies,” according to the college’s guidelines.
Instead, prosecutors said, the fraternity members planned a skit during which a pledge would be set on fire.
After drinking alcohol in the presence of the fraternity president, Caden Cooper, 22, the three younger men — Christopher Serrano, 20, and Lars Larsen, 19, both pledges, and Lucas Cowling, 20 — then performed the skit, prosecutors said.
Mr. Larsen was set on fire and wounded, prosecutors said, forcing him to spend weeks in the hospital for treatment of third-degree burns covering 16 percent of his body, mostly on his legs.
The charges against Mr. Cooper, Mr. Cowling and Mr. Serrano include recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury; conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public; and violating the social host ordinance. If convicted of all the charges, they would face a sentence of probation up to seven years, two months in prison.
Mr. Larsen himself was charged. The San Diego County District Attorney’s office said that he, as well as Mr. Cooper and Mr. Cowling, also tried to lie to investigators in the case, deleted evidence on social media, and told other fraternity members to destroy evidence and not speak to anyone about what happened at the party.
All four men have pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers representing Mr. Cooper and Mr. Cowling did not immediately respond to messages requesting comment on Tuesday. Contact information for lawyers for Mr. Serrano and Mr. Larsen was not immediately available.
The four students were released on Monday, but the court ordered them not to participate in any fraternity parties, not to participate in any recruitment events for the fraternity, and to obey all laws, including those related to alcohol consumption.
The university said Tuesday that it would begin its own administrative investigation into the conduct of the students and the fraternity, now that the police investigation was complete.
After it confirmed the details, the dean of students office immediately put the Phi Kappa Psi chapter on interim suspension, which remains in effect, college officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Additional action was taken, but the office said it could not reveal specifics because of student privacy laws.
“The university prioritizes the health and safety of our campus community,” college officials said in a statement, “and has high expectations for how all members of the university community, including students, behave in the interest of individual and community safety and well-being.”
At least half a dozen fraternities at San Diego State University have been put on probation in the last two years, officials said.
Education
Video: Several Killed in Wisconsin School Shooting, Including Juvenile Suspect
new video loaded: Several Killed in Wisconsin School Shooting, Including Juvenile Suspect
transcript
transcript
Several Killed in Wisconsin School Shooting, Including Juvenile Suspect
The police responded to a shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wis., on Monday.
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Around 10:57 a.m., our officers were responding to a call of an active shooter at the Abundant Life Christian School here in Madison. When officers arrived, they found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers located a juvenile who they believe was responsible for this deceased in the building. I’m feeling a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas. Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. These types of trauma don’t just go away.
Recent episodes in Guns & Gun Violence
Education
Video: Biden Apologizes for U.S. Mistreatment of Native American Children
new video loaded: Biden Apologizes for U.S. Mistreatment of Native American Children
transcript
transcript
Biden Apologizes for U.S. Mistreatment of Native American Children
President Biden offered a formal apology on Friday on behalf of the U.S. government for the abuse of Native American children from the early 1800s to the late 1960s.
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The Federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened until today. I formally apologize. It’s long, long, long overdue. Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make. I know no apology can or will make up for what was lost during the darkness of the federal boarding school policy. But today, we’re finally moving forward into the light.
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