The Last Mile Problem - Data Fluency: Empowering Your Organization with Effective Data Communication - page 12

So what can be learned from U.S. News' capability to bring data to a broad
audience? How did it create such a successful formula? How did the U.S. News
become the unofficial guide in the college attending process?
The U.S. News Best Colleges rankings list started as a reputational survey of
college presidents. People Magazine had the “50 Most Beautiful People”; Forbes
the “400 Wealthiest People.” Both were top sellers. U.S. News and its leadership
team understood the power of rankings. Bob Morse, director of Chief Data
Strategist for U.S. News , and colleagues did not just recognize the power of
lists to sell—they were also skilled data producers. They recognized that lists
were a powerful tool that could consolidate vast amounts of information into
a single, easily digestible metric.
In creating and disseminating the best college rankings, Morse and his team
demonstrate four important principles in becoming a skilled data producer.
Categorize Information
Morse sorted higher education institutions into categories based on the
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Over time, new
categories have been created by U.S. News to meet the demands of consumers.
U.S. colleges and universities are classified into national universities, national
liberal arts colleges, regional universities, regional colleges, best-value schools,
up-and-coming schools, top public schools, and schools with the most inter-
national students, for example. These categories provided college-goers with
important information to begin their search.
Focus on Ranking and Comparison
Having established definable categories, other information could be used to
rank and compare institutions within a given category. For instance, variables
such as tuition and fees, total enrollment, acceptance rate, average freshman
retention rate, 6-year graduation rate, class size, and average SAT scores could
be used to sort and rank institutions. Ranking and comparison are easily acces-
sible ways to present data.
Help Consumers to Understand What They're Seeing
Variables used to rank institutions were added over time. For example, the
inaugural rankings in 1983 were based upon a simple survey to 1,308 college
and university presidents asking them about the five best schools in their
category. By 1988 the rankings included information on selectivity, faculty