Opinions about quality are seen as the only relevant measures of quality that can be collected. A different view of quality in higher education, and a different set of university rankings are proposed. A system that draws pairwise comparisons of university performance across nine disciplines is described. (MLW)

A two-year study of the factors suspected of influencing the fairness of the peer review system (including the prestige of an institutional affiliation and the influence this might have in molding reviewers' opinions) is discussed. (MLW)

The five-volume Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, the most authoritative academic quality ranking ever done, is discussed. The Assessment covers 2,699 programs in 32 disciplines and assesses a faculty's reputation for scholarly quality. Improvements in programs' reputations are also discussed. (MLW)

Reports an exploratory study of the relationship between faculty publishing rates in basic and applied-research journals and institutional ranking based on 1995 data for 1,318 four-year colleges and universities. Results reveal a strong, positive association between scholarship and institutional ranking, with some interesting exceptions. (MSE)

A study on the objective correlates of undergraduate quality ratings, state or regional biases, and other methodological issues relating to reputational ratings of undergraduate quality is reported. The subjective judgments of departmental quality made by college and university faculty were studied. Reputational ratings appear to be redundant with…

A Higher Education Research Institute pilot study of the reputations of undergraduate departments is discussed. The intent of the study was to quantify the subjective judgments of undergraduate departmental quality and to investigate the association of ratings on different criteria and for different types of institutions. (MLW)

The trend toward an increasing proportion of research and doctoral institutions in higher education is examined, based on an analysis of changes in Carnegie classifications since 1976. Results suggest that the graduate/research model and the prestige associated with doctorate-level education are strongly attractive, despite pressures to…

An alternative view to a 1979 study on institutional quality done by Astin and Solomon is presented. The study indicates significant changes in rank have occurred among the 25 most selective four-year undergraduate institutions. Kuh proposes naturalistic inquiry research. A rebuttal by Astin is appended. (MLW)

How to identify and measure educational quality pervades American education. The Higher Education Research Institute and the Council on Learning launched a study to identify broad quality indicators, particularly at the undergraduate level. Peer groups and indices of selectivity are among the facets used to measure quality of education. (MLW)