Gaming the Rankings: Richard Freeland and the Dramatic Rise of Northeastern University, 1998–2002

• In Event: International Perspectives on Rankings and Higher Education Quality Assurance

Abstract

The promise of equitable educational opportunity is a recurrent theme throughout the history of American higher education. College rankings exist as a potential threat to this promise as they interlock with an overarching organizational narrative of institutional isomorphism and disciplinary power. Accordingly, this paper reframes the well-known story of Northeastern University (NEU) under Richard Freeland, who explicitly sought to manipulate the U.S. News and World Report list as a means of institutional improvement. This paper draws on institutional theory and Foucauldian notions of discipline and power to understand how NEU subverted the “threat” of the rankings and became a tightly-coupled institution that responded more effectively to Freeland’s vision of a national university.

Authors

• Garrett H Gowen, Iowa State University

• Paul S Hengesteg, Iowa State University