The Weekly: The Wall Street Journal should consider Hillsdale

Home Opinion The Weekly: The Wall Street Journal should consider Hillsdale
The Weekly: The Wall Street Journal should consider Hillsdale
Wall Street Journal, Flickr

The Wall Street Journal released its list of top colleges this week, but Hillsdale College did not appear among the nearly 1,000 universities and private schools mentioned.

Hillsdale has demonstrated its merit to the Journal. The Journal’s editorial board staffs Hillsdale journalism alumni, and students and faculty frequently appear in its pages.

The Journal’s senior communications director Steve Severinghaus told the Collegian that Hillsdale was excluded from its top colleges list because it “does not participate in the federal student aid program.” This means that, to be considered, a school must submit certain information to the Department of Education, including data on federal student loan rates and the ethnicities of students and faculty. Doing this would undermine Hillsdale’s mission, which relies on remaining unfettered from government interference.  

Other college information services, like the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review, include Hillsdale in their rankings. Instead of relying on information provided by the federal government, these organizations reach out to schools individually. The WSJ should do the same.

Hillsdale’s relationship with the Journal should be more than enough to merit consideration, regardless of whether the college accepts federal funds. But Hillsdale’s academic standards and selective admittance rates also surpass many of the schools listed in the Journal’s rankings.

The Journal claims its ranking puts “student success and learning at its heart.” If that’s the case, it shouldn’t keep its readers in the dark about a top-ranked college committed to its students’ growth and excellence.