Scandal began brewing after the New York Times published a report about the local prestigious campus, Claremont McKenna, where it was revealed that a top administrator was falsifying test scores in order to earn higher marks on U.S. News and World Report’s list of best colleges.

Anibal Ortiz / Daily Titan

The college ranked ninth among the list of best liberal arts colleges in the country.  McKenna’s sister school, Pomona College, was ranked fifth on the same list. Both schools are located in Claremont, and make up the “consortium” of Claremont Colleges. Both schools often advertise their high rankings from several national publications.

The revelations brought into question how open the information on college ranking publications is for manipulation, and how widespread the practice might be.

Edward Sullivan, who works in Institutional Research and Analytical Studies at Cal State Fullerton, oversees the sending of the most accurate information to these national publications. He said that every year, the school receives lengthy surveys that will ultimately determine how high schools are ranked.

By virtue of participation, schools that partake in the surveys and fill information out thoroughly are likely to be ranked high.

“As you complete these surveys, you tend to move up in the rankings,” said Sullivan.

On the website of college rankings for U.S. News and World Report, the methods for scoring on the rankings is posted by different ranking categories, and how much each category is weighted. The “Undergraduate academic reputation” category has the most impact, at 22 percent. This category is composed of peer assessment and how highly high school counselors score schools on their surveys.

In the case of Claremont McKenna, the information that was doctored fell under the category of “student selectivity,” and only made up for 7.5 percent of how the school was ultimately assessed in the rankings.

Still, Sullivan said puffing up one category will not make much of a difference. “Unless you’re making a huge jump relative to others, you’re not going to move up in the rankings.”

Both Sullivan and the U.S. News and World publication maintain that tedious measures are employed to make sure the surveys are complete and accurate. Both mentioned the use of the National Center for Education Statistics and their database as a source for double-checking accuracy of the surveys.

“When Claremont McKenna put in the SAT’s the way that they did, it didn’t make any sense, because people could look it up,” Sullivan said.

The Federal Government requires all schools to submit information accurately and on time each year, Sullivan said, and there is no incentive in a school providing falsified or misleading information because universities could lose federal grants and other sources of funding if they report inaccurately.

“At the end of the day, choosing a college shouldn’t come out from one of these books, but what’s best for the kid,” Sullivan said. “The student really should find the best fit for themselves, and it really should take more than just a ranking in one of these books.”

Eloy Lopez, 26, agrees. Lopez is a graduate of CSUF who is currently attending USC for graduate studies. USC is currently ranked 24th nationally among all campuses surveyed.

“Well, rankings and prestige are all nice. However, I choose schools that are in my best interest and my family, so location does play a big role. So the best schools for me were the ones near home in order for me to commute back and forth,” said Lopez.

The national ranking publications are used mainly as a resource for parents and students when looking for a right fit in a school or particular program. When results are good, universities often republish the rankings on their websites as a way to boost campus confidence and attract prospective students.

CSUF’s master’s in the software engineering program recently ranked third nationally among the other programs like it in the U.S. World and News ranking list. On the program’s website, a screenshot is posted of the list, reading, “We are here!”

“We feel very happy and proud, we are glad that we are being recognized and that our hard work is being recognized,” said Mariko Molodowitch, software engineering program chair.

She said the software engineering program has earned a wide reputation, and now the U.S. News ranking adds further visibility to the program.