Reflecting on Rankings

Objective Study Ranks UNM College of Pharmacy Higher than U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report released a report in 2020 ranking The University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy 43^rd out of 130 pharmacy schools in the country, but Dean Donald A. Godwin, PhD, points to a different ranking system that places the college much higher.

“U.S. News & World Report uses a completely subjective rating – no objective data are used,” Godwin said. “This has driven a lot of deans crazy over the years.”

According to U.S. News, the list of pharmacy institutions reflects responses to a one-question survey completed by academics and peer institutions that rates each institution on a scale from one to five.

Therefore, Godwin said, these types of college rankings are often circular in nature. The top-ranked colleges have top rankings because they have strong reputations. They have a strong reputation, in part, because they had a high rank the previous year.

To combat the subjective nature of the rankings, an independent scholarly article was published this month by five scholars from different pharmacy colleges. The study featured a peer-reviewed objective ranking system that assessed pharmacy colleges across the country on education and research criteria.

When weighing education at 60% and research 40%, the study ranked the UNM College of Pharmacy 18^th – which is 25 slots higher than the U.S. News & World Report ranking.

“If you look at the objective data, we’re in the top 20,” Godwin said.

He suggested that there might be a correlation between lower rankings and schools that are situated in rural Western states.

U.S. News & World Report uses pure opinion polls to compile their rankings. When those academics are subjectively rating our school on a scale from one to five, they may not necessarily know that our research rankings or our education rankings are high

— Donald A. Godwin, PhD