原文標(biāo)題：
University rankings
Columbia opts out
The Ivy League departure could signal a turning-point in college rankings
大學(xué)排名
哥倫比亞大學(xué)決定退出
常春藤聯(lián)盟的離開可能預(yù)示著大學(xué)排名的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)

Columbia University ditches the college-ranking system
哥倫比亞大學(xué)放棄參與大學(xué)排名

[Paragraph 1]

ON JUNE 6TH Columbia University announced that it will no longer co-operate with US News & World Report’s undergraduate rankings.

6月6日，哥倫比亞大學(xué)宣布與《美國新聞與世界報(bào)道》終止合作，不再參與本科院校的排名。

It is the first top-notch institution to do so. Might its departure be the start of a mass exodus?

哥大是第一個(gè)與之終止合作的一流院校。哥大的離開會導(dǎo)致大規(guī)模院校效仿嗎？

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Columbia’s decision follows a rankings scandal last year. In February 2022 one of Columbia’s own maths professors, Michael Thaddeus, accused the college of fudging its data in several areas.
事件起因要從哥倫比亞大學(xué)去年的排名丑聞?wù)f起。2022年2月，哥倫比亞大學(xué)的數(shù)學(xué)教授邁克爾.薩德斯指控校方排名數(shù)據(jù)造假。

The university later admitted to having used “outdated and/or incorrect methodologies”.
哥大后來承認(rèn)使用了 "過時(shí)和/或不正確統(tǒng)計(jì)方法"。

[Paragraph 3]
US News began ranking America’s top universities in 1983, and has released its findings annually since 1988.
US News 于 1983 年開始對美國頂尖大學(xué)進(jìn)行排名，自1988年起每年發(fā)布其調(diào)查結(jié)果。

In the 1980s prospective students started to expand their college search beyond their local area, and it was hard to learn about universities and compare them, says Michael Sauder, a professor of sociology at the University of Iowa. “US News filled an information gap at that time,” he adds.
愛荷華大學(xué)社會學(xué)教授邁克爾.索德說，在1980年代，欲申請的學(xué)生開始將他們的大學(xué)搜索范圍擴(kuò)大到本地以外的地區(qū)，而當(dāng)時(shí)他們對大學(xué)不了解且無法做對比。US News排名填補(bǔ)了這一信息空白。

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Colleges have gone to great lengths to move up in the ratings.
各個(gè)大學(xué)為了提高排名，不惜一切代價(jià)。

Richard Freeland, Northeastern University’s former president, capped class sizes and hired faculty to improve its spot; it moved from 127th in 2003 to 44th this year.
東北大學(xué)的前校長理查德.弗里蘭限制了班級人數(shù)，并聘請了更多教職員工以提高排名；該校排名從2003年的第127位上升到今年的第44位。

Others went too far. A dean at Temple University’s business school was sentenced to prison and was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine after being convicted of fraud in relation to artificially inflating his programme’s rankings.
其他人則走了極端。天普大學(xué)商學(xué)院的一位院長被判入獄，并被勒令支付25萬美元的罰款，他被判因人為提高學(xué)校排名而涉嫌欺詐。

[Paragraph 5]
The ranking system used to seem unstoppable. Universities have tried to ditch it before, only to find that doing so can backfire badly.
排名系統(tǒng)曾經(jīng)似乎勢不可擋。大學(xué)曾試圖退出排名，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣做會適得其反。

US News still ranks non-participating universities, using publicly available information, and the data often do not go in their favour.
US News 仍然使用公開信息對未參與的大學(xué)進(jìn)行排名，而這些數(shù)據(jù)往往對大學(xué)不利。

Reed College, a liberal-arts college, stopped taking part in 1995. It tumbled from the top quartile to the bottom.
里德學(xué)院是一所文理學(xué)院，于1995年停止參與排名。它的排名從前1/4跌至墊底。

Columbia did not submit data for this year’s analysis, citing concerns about Dr Thaddeus’s claims, and its ranking fell from second in 2021-22 (tied with Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to 18th in 2022-23 (tied with the University of Notre Dame).
哥倫比亞大學(xué)沒有提交今年的分析數(shù)據(jù)，理由是對薩德斯博士的指控感到擔(dān)憂，其排名從2021-22年的第2名（與哈佛大學(xué)和麻省理工學(xué)院并列）跌至2022-23年的第18位（與圣母大學(xué)并列）。

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Recently the mood has begun to change, however, especially among graduate schools.
最近，情況開始發(fā)生變化，特別是在研究生院中。

In 2022, 17 medical schools and 62 law schools did not submit data to US News. Yale and Harvard were the first leading law schools to leave, in November.
2022年，17所醫(yī)學(xué)院和62所法學(xué)院未向US News提交數(shù)據(jù)。耶魯大學(xué)和哈佛大學(xué)是第一批在 11 月放棄排名的頂尖法學(xué)院。

By the release of the rankings, of the 15 highest-ranked law schools, only the University of Chicago submitted data.
截至排名發(fā)布時(shí)，在排名最高的15所法學(xué)院中，只有芝加哥大學(xué)提交了數(shù)據(jù)。

Some undergraduate schools have already opted out this year (Rhode Island School of Design, Colorado College, Stillman College), but none are as prestigious as Columbia.
一些本科院校今年已經(jīng)選擇退出排名（有羅德島設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)院、科羅拉多學(xué)院、斯蒂爾曼學(xué)院），但沒有一所學(xué)校像哥倫比亞大學(xué)那樣享有盛名。

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Its departure could give others cover for the decision to leave. Meanwhile another pillar of undergraduate education is under threat: standardised testing.
哥大的離開可能會給其他學(xué)校的離開找到理由。與此同時(shí)，另一個(gè)本科教育的選拔核心正面臨威脅：標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試。

Many universities made the SAT and ACT optional because of covid-19, then extended the policy beyond the pandemic’s end.
由于疫情，許多大學(xué)將 SAT 和 ACT 設(shè)為可選考試，后來將這一政策延伸到疫情結(jié)束之后。

In March Columbia became the first Ivy League university to no longer require such tests at all.
3月，哥倫比亞大學(xué)成為第一個(gè)完全不再要求此類考試成績的常春藤聯(lián)盟大學(xué)。

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In May US News announced changes to its rankings methodology. It is moving away from metrics that rely on reputation (such as alumni giving scores) and towards student outcomes (such as graduating people from different backgrounds).
5 月，US News 宣布更改其排名方法。它正在從依賴聲譽(yù)的度量指標(biāo)（例如校友評分），轉(zhuǎn)向依賴學(xué)生成果的度量指標(biāo)（例如畢業(yè)人數(shù)，特別是來自不同背景的畢業(yè)人數(shù)）。

One way or another, the rankings—and universities more broadly—are in flux.
不管怎樣，排名——以及更廣范圍的大學(xué)相關(guān)事情——都在變化之中。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量565左右）
原文出自：2023年6月10日《The Economist》United States版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
《美國新聞與世界報(bào)道》US News & World Report是一家美國的新聞雜志，每年都會發(fā)布一份針對美國本科大學(xué)的排名，被稱為“US News & World Report’s undergraduate rankings”，包括了全美國的近4000所大學(xué)和學(xué)院，這份排名被認(rèn)為是美國本科教育領(lǐng)域最具權(quán)威性和影響力的排名之一。這份排名主要考慮了各個(gè)學(xué)校的學(xué)術(shù)聲譽(yù)、教育質(zhì)量、畢業(yè)生就業(yè)情況、學(xué)生入學(xué)成績、師生比例、財(cái)務(wù)狀況等多個(gè)因素，同時(shí)也考慮了學(xué)校的地理位置、校園生活、學(xué)生文化等因素。根據(jù)以上因素的綜合評估，US News & World Report會將排名分為全美前100、前200、前300等不同等級，同時(shí)也會對各個(gè)學(xué)科領(lǐng)域進(jìn)行排名。雖然這份排名并沒有被所有人認(rèn)可，但在美國本科大學(xué)排名中，該排名是備受關(guān)注的，許多學(xué)校都會在招生宣傳中提及自己的排名情況。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3個(gè)）
US News began ranking America’s top universities in 1983, and has released its findings annually since 1988.
US News 于 1983 年開始對美國頂尖大學(xué)進(jìn)行排名，自1988年起每年發(fā)布其調(diào)查結(jié)果。

Colleges have gone to great lengths to move up in the ratings.
各個(gè)大學(xué)為了提高排名，不惜一切代價(jià)。

The ranking system used to seem unstoppable. Universities have tried to ditch it before, only to find that doing so can backfire badly.
排名系統(tǒng)曾經(jīng)似乎勢不可擋。大學(xué)曾試圖退出排名，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣做會適得其反。