Selections Interview with Bob Morse, Director of Data Research, U.S. News & World Report

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Selections: You haven’t opened your survey to any international schools, correct?
Morse: Correct. We have our reasons. One is that we do not market—or only in micro, micro ways—our print product overseas. I think both Business Week and the Wall Street Journal have international editions. And it is true that a significant proportion of business school students come from overseas. That is true. But they can get access to our data for free on the Web. And I think they do. We’re probably missing a business opportunity by not marketing the product overseas, but we don’t. And it would actually be harder to use our system of GPAs if some of the schools aren’t using the GMAT . . . some of our ways would be harder to translate internationally.

Selections: How do you go about choosing the schools you include in your ranking?
Morse: We use the AACSB [Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business] accredited schools. We look at all of those schools. I guess that is another main difference between U.S. News and Business Week. They limit theirs to 30 or 50 and don’t open it up. I’m not sure about the Wall Street Journal, but theirs is a moot point since some of the recruiters don’t visit the lower schools. Then, in essence, their system makes it a moot point.

Selections: Whom do you consider to be your main audience for your business school ranking?
Morse: Prospective students—that is the main audience. The general public is second, and academia is third. Academia is very interested in our rankings.

Selections: What are some of the most common mistakes you see the schools making with regard to the rankings?
Morse: I think if you’re a cusp school, meaning you’re 48 or 50, and you make a big deal about being ranked. If we’re doing a top-50 cut-off, and you do a big marketing campaign and then fall off the list . . . because that is an area of the ranking where schools fall on and off of. The 20th school isn’t going to fall off the ranking. They may change a few places . . . So, I think if you’re at the cusp of ours, and you market yourself as being ranked, you may get questions the next [time] about why you disappeared. I would call that a bad PR choice. Is that what you’re trying to get me to respond to?

Selections: A better question might be, how should schools be using the information published in your survey?
Morse: Two things. One is they can use it for peer analysis. I think we’re the first publisher of this data. So, it’s the first time schools have the ability to see the most recent admissions and placement data of their competitors. So they can use it as peer analysis. And I think if a school does fall, it can be a painful jolt and they can decide to force a correction. I think they need to be careful about how they publicize it.

The reason our survey is so transparent is it’s more easily criticized.

Selections: The two criticisms I heard were that deans don’t know what is going on at their schools, let alone other schools. The other is that schools lie when they submit their data.
Morse: I didn’t say they lie, but I think the data has improved. I haven’t seen any evidence of some [smoking] gun. The standards are a lot higher and the data are a lot better. Is it perfect? No. I guess each of the rankings has its own weaknesses.

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