UCLA

Despite college rankings’ popular yet controversial nature, there is little known about the relationship between college rankings and students. Prior literature suggests that students who make use of rankings are more privileged, yet there lacks a comprehensive analysis surrounding the types of students who place importance on rankings in more modern times. Additionally, there is a lack of information regarding how students’ use of rankings impacts their college experiences and outcomes. Using data from UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, this study employs logistic regression to determine the demographic characteristics and pre-college experiences of students who place importance on rankings, and this study draws on Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction to hypothesize that valuing rankings in deciding where to attend college correlates with different types of privilege. Next, this study makes use of inverse probability of treatment weighting, t-tests, and linear regression models to determine the extent to which having valued rankings affects outcomes like sense of belonging and academic adjustment in students’ first year of college as well as overall satisfaction in both the first and senior year. This study utilizes the theory of anticipatory socialization to posit that students’ use of rankings leads to more informed college decisions, which in turn leads to stronger outcomes. Findings indicate that students with higher levels of privilege are more likely to use rankings during their college search process. Additionally, students who valued rankings in the selection of their college report slightly better outcomes in terms of sense of belonging and overall satisfaction (both first-year and upon graduation) but not academic adjustment. These findings held even after accounting for student privilege. However, students’ experiences while in college, such as interacting with faculty, play a larger role in determining their outcomes than whether the student placed importance on rankings. This study elaborates on how the findings are relevant for audiences like college counselors, higher education institutions, and researchers. All in all, this study not only provides a current look into the types of students who place importance on rankings but it also examines how importance placed on rankings influences pivotal outcomes like overall satisfaction.