Universities compete to improve their ranking in the different ranking systems and expend resources toward this goal. Higher rankings attract elite students, research funds, government and public support, among other benefits. However, perhaps the most influential ranking system in U.S. contexts—the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings—has largely remained unchanged for decades, leading researchers to question how highly-ranked institutions remain atop the rankings. As a result, the focus of this study was to examine all institutions reporting complete statistics to U.S. News in 2018 (n = 228) and develop experimental algorithms to learn which ranking criteria most contribute to an institution’s overall ranking. Of the 28 major ranking metrics, most algorithms demonstrated that predicted graduation rate, six-year graduation rate, and peer assessment best predicted overall U.S. News ranking. However, predicted graduation rate and peer assessment are highly subjective and speculative in nature, possibly contributing to the sustained stratification of U.S. News rankings.

中文翻译：

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美国新闻与世界报道最佳大学排名：哪些机构指标有助于持续分层？

大学竞相提高他们在不同排名系统中的排名，并为这个目标花费资源。更高的排名吸引了精英学生、研究基金、政府和公众的支持，以及其他好处。然而，也许美国最有影响力的排名系统——美国新闻与世界报道最佳大学排名——几十年来基本保持不变，这导致研究人员质疑排名靠前的机构如何保持在排名榜首。因此，本研究的重点是检查 2018 年向 US News 报告完整统计数据的所有机构（n = 228），并开发实验算法以了解哪些排名标准对机构的整体排名贡献最大。在 28 个主要排名指标中，大多数算法表明预测毕业率、六年毕业率、和同行评估最能预测美国新闻的整体排名。然而，预测的毕业率和同行评估在本质上具有高度主观性和推测性，可能有助于美国新闻排名的持续分层。