U.S. News & World Report’s widely-read and influential annual college rankings has come under fire from Barnard College and other members of a consortium of liberal arts colleges who refused to participate in the ranking process this summer, claiming that the rankings are an inadequate measure of the college experience.

The magazine’s controversial annual attempt to apply some order to the college selection process compares similar schools through surveys completed by university officials and key statistics, such as acceptance rate.

The Annapolis Group announced after its annual meeting in June that many of its member institutions would refuse to turn in the surveys, which ask university officials to assess peer institutions, that account for one-quarter of each school’s final score.

Although Barnard officials did not cooperate with US News, the school still appeared on the annual list, ranked 30th among liberal arts colleges.

Barnard President Judith Shapiro called the of surveys “garbage-in garbage-out research” due to the fact that their results are often based on reputation, not fact.“I think it makes people anxious, and it’s misleading.”

Additionally, Shapiro said that the survey fails to credit Barnard for the opportunities garnered by its proximity to Columbia, instead treating each institution as if it were an “island.”

Shapiro brushed off concerns that Barnard’s refusal to participate in the ranking system will damage the school’s reputation or standing.

“The whole U.S. News & World Report ranking system is not that important to Barnard,” Shapiro said. “We don’t lose students to institutions that rank higher. I’m happy to say that our trustees don’t care about it at all.”

Columbia University, which held steady, tying for ninth place for the fourth year in a row, said that while it recognizes the liberal arts schools’ concerns, it has no intention of dropping out of the rankings, according to University Spokesman Robert Hornsby.

“Although Columbia continues to cooperate with U.S. News, we very much share the legitimate concerns of our colleagues that there is often too much emphasis on rankings in a process that should really be about which kind of higher education experience among an extraordinary array of good options is the best fit for any given student,” Hornsby said in a statement.

Jacob Schneider can be reached at jacob.schneider@columbiaspectator.com.