My personal (though admittedly not dire) experience with college rankings hurting students was with artificially constricted class sizes that were strictly enfo

My personal (though admittedly not dire) experience with college rankings hurting students was with artificially constricted class sizes that were strictly enforced in order to impress the rankings by having classes numbering fewer than 19 students. It seems that this is yet another consequence of the bizarre split responsibilities universities hold—balancing the long-term goals of a large institution with the needs of its students, for whom the experience is much more ephemeral.