While Harvard was included in the report, Ehrenberg said that Harvard would likely be an exception to his study's rules.
"If you only change from three to one or two to three, you won't see much of a statistical effect," Ehrenberg said.
Indeed, Harvard has seen a steady decline in its admit rate over the past several years despite minor fluctuations in rank. The College also introduced major increases in financial aid last year, despite being ranked first by U.S. News.
The report explicitly notes the case of Cornell, which rose from number 14 in 1997 to number six in 1998. Ehrenberg says that, based on this jump, his study accurately predicted Cornell's admissions statistics for 1999.
Thus far, Cornell has not responded to the study or to the U.S. News & World Report rankings.
"I don't know what we can do," said Cornell Provost Don M. Randel. "We've been pretty steady in academic quality and things that matter, and we'll continue to do that."
"We haven't engaged in the organized opposition to the rankings," Randel added.
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