The University broke the barrier Thursday to become a top-tier school in the newly released U.S. News & World Report best colleges list, though the rankings have been under heavy criticism for their influence on people.The University received a score of 32 out of 100 and a rank of 130, which is tied with three other schools.Chancellor Michael Martin said in a broadcast e-mail the rankings mean “that LSU is one of America’s best universities.””This ranking is proof that LSU’s Flagship Agenda is working,” Martin said. “That plan has done what it was designed to do — improve LSU’s stature on a national level.”Astrid Merget, provost and executive vice chancellor, said she is “absolutely elated” about the University’s ranking in the top tier.She said these publications’ surveys have even more of an impact the farther away geographically students are from a university’s campus.”It is affirmation about how good this university is,” Merget said. “We’ve known that, but we’ve had trouble getting other people to know that.”She said the University’s success in the rankings comes from a combination of factors.”There is no question since we’ve adopted the Flagship Agenda that we have put a very high premium on quality,” Merget said. “Our faculty and our leaders are becoming more nationally visible and that people are beginning to see the quality and impressive results of what faculty do on this campus.”Merget also cites the substantial funding from the state that has “empowered our Flagship Agenda.”Despite being last in the top tier and tied with three other schools, Merget said she still considers the position a success.”It’s like passing the finish line — you win or you lose,” Merget said. “It doesn’t matter by how many inches or feet — you won.”The list breaks down into three tiers — top tier, tier 3 and tier 4. The top tier includes the top half of the national universities list with 133 schools, and tiers 3 and 4 separate the bottom half with 63 and 64 schools, respectively.LSU is tied at 130 with Duquesne, Kansas State and Samford universities.Of the 49 flagship peer universities, 36 are top-tier schools, 12 are in the third tier and one is in tier 4.The universities of Florida, Georgia and Arkansas are ranked above LSU at 49, 58 and 125, respectively.The U.S. News & World Report rankings have been hit with heavy criticism from the Education Conservancy, an organization that aims to increase awareness of commercial influences in college admissions.Lloyd Thatcher, executive director of Education Conservancy, said the U.S. News and World Report has “greatly exceeded its jurisdiction.””College admissions should exemplify the best that education has to offer,” Thatcher said. “Under the influence of the rankings, it’s been very cynical.”Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, said he does not consider the rankings to be scientific because there is no scientific method to properly rank.”We’re not saying that our rankings are perfect,” Morse said. “There’s aspects of a college that can’t be captured by quantitative rankings, like how much learning is taking place or what is going on in a classroom.”Merget said it’s a reality of higher education that people read these publications.”People regard them as a source of information … [but] they are not the sole source,” Merget said. “But they do have an influence.”Morse said he disagrees with the Education Conservancy about how the rankings are distorting the admissions process.”The public is using our rankings responsibly,” Morse said. “They’re not using them as a sole reason to pick a school. They’re using them as one piece of information when they decide to go to a school or apply.”Merget said the report doesn’t distort the decisions LSU makes on where it recruits, who it recruits and who it admits.The U.S. News & World Report has seven indicators on measuring academic quality.Only 25 percent of a university’s score is based on peer evaluations from top administrators at each school — an opinionated score. Each participant rates their peer schools’ academic programs on a scale from one to five — five being the highest score.The remaining 75 percent of the scores are based on six-year graduation rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and the alumni donation rate.Top schools in each category receive a value of 100, and the other schools receive a score proportional to the top school, according to the U.S. News & World Report Web site.Of the 4,272 individuals who were sent a survey to complete, 46 percent responded — a drop from 51 percent this past year, 58 percent two years ago and 67 percent three years ago, according to Inside Higher Ed.Morse said there’s a decline in the response rate but “for a mail survey it’s still a very good response rate, even though it is down.”Thatcher said the Education Conservancy was founded when the response rate was 67 percent.He said when the organization began talking with presidents and chancellors across the nation, it asked what their educational values are, what they want to do and what they are called to do.”When they say they’re called to serve students and to encourage critical thinking, and service beyond self and social responsibility, then I say, ‘What do the rankings measure,'” Thatcher said. “Do any of those things have any educational relevance? Then why are you behaving in a way that you would not want students to behave?”–Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]