President lauds database as alternative to rankings

LEWISBURG, Pa. – In an Oct. 4 op-ed in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bucknell University President Brian C. Mitchell, who is also chair of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania, lauded a new national database that will help students and parents choose higher education institutions based on comprehensive and comparable information.

More than 60 independent colleges and universities in Pennsylvania have joined U-CAN, or the University & College Accountability Network (www.ucan-network.org). 

"Students relying on the (magazine college) rankings to make a choice may not consider a number of schools that might be the best fit for them," President Mitchell wrote in the op-ed. "Now, students and families have available a source of broad information about higher education that will allow them to make choices based on their needs and educational goals," he added.

Read the full op-ed: Rethinking college rankings, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 4, 2007.

View Bucknell's U-CAN profile.

Bucknell news story: Bucknell among Pa. schools joining national database

Contact: Office of Communications

Posted Oct. 4, 2007