Washington Monthly - September/October 2014 - 39

education, and will surely be considered by the Obama
administration ratings makers: How should we think
about historically black colleges and universities?
HBCUs are an important part of the nation's higher
education legacy. They provided educational opportunities for minority students at a time when discrimination meant that it was very difficult for them to
turn elsewhere. And they continue to do so today-
for instance, two selective HBCUs, Fisk and Spelman, make our "Best Bang for the Buck" list (page
26), while other HBCUs, like Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, have impressive records of
helping often poorly prepared minority students earn
degrees. But many HBCUs also struggle with results,
sometimes because of underfunding, sometimes for
other reasons.
HBCUs do not fare well on this third ranking, accounting for twelve of the twenty colleges. This includes two public HBCUs, Central State University in
Ohio and Mississippi Valley State University. Seven of
the others are proprietary colleges. Ferrum College in
Virginia (see "Held Accountable," page 40) is the only
institution not in either category.

Worst Colleges Ranking #4:

Adjusting graduation rate for percentage of minority and
low-income students and factoring in net price charged to
low-income students
1.

SHIMER COLLEGE (IL)

Private nonprofit

2. Southern Vermont College (VT)

Private nonprofit

3.

Private nonprofit

Becker College (MA)

4. Platt College-Aurora (CO)

Private for-profit

5. Virginia Intermont College (VA)*

Private nonprofit

6. Rockford University (IL)

Private nonprofit

7.

Minn. School of Business-Richfield (MN)

Private for-profit

8. Green Mountain College (VT)

Private nonprofit

9. Paul Smith's College (NY)

Private nonprofit

10. University of Advancing Technology (AZ)

Private for-profit

11. University of Great Falls (MT)

Private nonprofit

12. Prescott College (AZ)

Private nonprofit

13. Shenandoah University (VA)

Private nonprofit

14. Daniel Webster College (NH)

Private for-profit

15. ITT Technical Institute-Indianapolis (IN)

Private for-profit

16. Goddard College (VT)

Private nonprofit

17. Milwaukee School of Engineering (WI)

It's impossible to debate methods for identifying good
and bad colleges without considering whether college
outcomes should be seen in the demographic context
of their students. The Washington Monthly's various
rankings do this explicitly by crediting colleges that do
a better-than-average job of recruiting and graduating
lower-income students (as measured by the percentage of Pell Grants)-students who, because they typically come to college less prepared, tend to graduate at
lower rates. For Ranking #4 we added in this calculation plus the net price of attendance for Pell Grant recipients. We also factored in the share of students who
are black or Hispanic, to credit institutions that serve
diverse student bodies, and the graduation rate for
those students.
This ranking looks very different from the others.
The HBCUs are gone, and private for-profit colleges
only account for five of the schools on the list. Instead,
the list is dominated by small and expensive private
nonprofit colleges. Five are located in the Northeast,
such as Southern Vermont College and Becker College in Massachusetts. The rest are spread throughout
the country with the noticeable exception of the Deep
South. These are all colleges that have a moderate to
high percentage of Pell Grant students but are not par-

Private nonprofit

19. Holy Cross College (IN)

Ranking #4:
Different Kinds of Students

Private nonprofit

18. University of New England (ME)

Private nonprofit

20. Friends University (KS)

Private nonprofit

* Virginia Intermont closed in 2014

ticularly racially diverse. They charge high prices, but
those costs do not translate into student success.

Which Is the Worst?
The high quality of America's best colleges creates a
strong public belief that all U.S. institutions of higher education must be of similar quality. Top colleges
lists reinforce this assumption, while the obsession
over admissions sucks up all the air in public debates
over college quality. This is a boon for those schools
that are decidedly not world-class and that struggle
with debt, cost, and completion. They fly under the
radar with little attention and unearned positive reputations. And only the students who have the misfortune to enroll at one of these places find out the truth.
If we want to improve national attainment and deal
with college cost, that cannot continue. It's time to get
these colleges some attention by putting them at the
top of the list.
Ben Miller is a senior policy analyst in the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program. He was previously a senior
policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Education. 
Washington Monthly

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Washington Monthly - September/October 2014

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