U.S. News & World Report, infamous for its rankings of U.S. colleges and universities, announced Friday that it will embark upon a new, worldwide approach to grading schools.

Robert Morse, the magazine’s director of rankings, said it only makes sense to launch THE-QS World University Rankings, which will assess higher education beyond the United States.

“There is worldwide competition for the best faculty, best students and best research grants and researchers,” Morse said, adding that U.S. News probably will become more involved in the ranking methodology when it goes global.

Folks at the Education Conservancy, a non-profit organization that frequently criticizes U.S. News’ ranking system, were not impressed.

“The expansion of a business model that has profited at the expense of education is not surprising,” said founder Lloyd Thacker. “This could challenge leaders to distinguish American higher education by providing better indicators of quality and by helping us think beyond ranking.”

Donna Winchester, higher education reporter