In September 2022, Columbia, previously ranked #2 for undergraduate studies, dropped to a #18 ranking. It then, in the summer of 2023, removed itself from the US News Rankings entirely. Columbia, as one of the Ivies, is potentially a leader in abandoning ranking systems that are commonly thought to be unhelpful.
Columbia claims they removed themselves from the rankings because it cannot possibly capture the school in its entirety and "much is lost." A Columbia math professor named Dr. Michael Thaddeus said the data Columbia sent wasn't exactly right, and the school later admitted to providing inaccurate data. Still, numerical appraisals of subjective experiences fall short of accuracy.
RISD, Rhode Island School of Design, also left the US News Rankings and other schools such as Colorado College have followed.
