Who's got the best school? UF president Machen says he does

JUNE 17, 2009

When given the chance to rank the nation's universities, UF president Bernie Machen grouped his school right up there with Harvard and Yale.

As for the other major Florida schools, such as FSU and the University of Miami, he knocked them down a peg.

The Gainesville Sun examined Machen's rating sheet for the annual US News & World Report college guide and found that he didn't mark any other Florida university even close to UF. Of course, Machen has long made clear his goal to get the University of Florida into the Top 10.

The headline of the article? "Playing the College Ratings Game."

It's a game that Eckerd College president Donald Eastman blasted as ridiculous.

"To say that Florida is better than Harvard or Columbia or such places is an exercise in hubris," Eastman told the Sun.

Given the recent mini-scandal over Clemson's gaming the system, we might be hard pressed to disagree with Eastman's dim view of the way these lists come to be. You?

Posted by Ron Matus at 10:31:00 am on June 17, 2009 in

Higher Education

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Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going in on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.

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