Kojo Quartey: University, college rankings and preparing for success

Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world”. Education has that great transformative power, that’s why in my “Education Box,” which is featured on the Monroe Public Access Cable Television (MPACT) show, “Education Matters,” I showcase five symbolic items indicating how education is the cure for ignorance, the cure for poverty, the key to success, the road map to prosperity, and the ticket to the middle class. Education is that great equalizer.

At the tertiary or higher education level, the quality of education may vary by institution, and there are rankings for that. Now, when you think about the best universities/colleges in the world, which comes first? Probably, Harvard, Yale, Oxford, MIT or some other university such as the University of Michigan. No doubt it will not be a community college such as Monroe County Community College. It’s a different ranking with different criteria, and their missions are completely different.

As far as the world’s most prestigious universities, depending on the source of the ranking, some have Harvard at the top, others have Princeton or MIT, and yet others have Oxford and Cambridge on top. Whatever be the case, there is no doubt that those are some darn good universities. Unfortunately, I did not attend any of them. But I wonder if I would have been successful if I had. As a first-generation college student who needed nurturing and mentoring, I attended a college where I could get that support. My college was not highly ranked, and it was an urban Historically Black College/University (HBCU), Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

As I look at various university rankings, some based on the overall university and others on subject of study, consistently in the mix is our own University of Michigan. It is important to note that the university rankings have more to do with research capabilities, faculty achievements and credentials, employability, and already-established reputations. The University of Michigan is up there with all of them, in the top 5 percent (31), ahead of Brown, Duke, Carnegie Melon, New York University, Purdue and many more.

In a U.S. News and World Report ranking that only ranks U.S. universities, Princeton is number one, followed by MIT, then Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. The University of Michigan comes in at number 21. By the way, Princeton has topped this ranking for 13 straight years, and they have no business, law or medical school. That is impressive.

There are also rankings for community colleges. These rankings tend to focus on completion, transfer, employability, and affordability. One such ranking is from the personal finance website, wallethub.com. The Wallethub.com ranking places MCCC in the top 5 percent nationwide (37th) of all community colleges and number 1 in Michigan.

The university rankings as indicated earlier, do not mean that those institutions provide the best education or even the best teaching. Community colleges focus on teaching and nurturing students, just like the HBCUs.

Community colleges provide access not available at many of these prestigious universities. At community colleges, what we do is teach and train. We take some of the most underserved and disadvantaged students, many of who could not go to these prestigious universities, we shape and mold them and send them off to the Harvards, the Yales, the MITs, and the Michigans, where in many instances, they outcompete the native students there. I once heard a counselor describe community colleges as “two years of direction.”

We at the community colleges are in the business of preparing these students to function effectively in a global society where even if they do not attend these prestigious universities, will rub shoulders and compete with the very best of those graduates. Community college graduates are on the global stage competing with ivy leagues grads and, in many instances, outcompeting them. We hold our own.

So, as the year comes to an end and parents and students think about where they will go to college, think nurturing and affordability as you consider your local community college, where you can start and then go anywhere after that. It’s more likely to make you successful at Princeton, Harvard, Yale, MIT, or Michigan.

— Kojo Quartey is president of Monroe County Community College and an economist. He may be reached at kquartey@monroeccc.edu.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Kojo Quartey: University, college rankings and preparing for success