August 17, 2007 11:43AM # A Fine Day By [Neal McCluskey](https://www.cato.org/people/neal-mccluskey) --- SHARE Today, *U.S. News and World Report* released its [annual college guide](http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php), and I for one think it’s great. Sure, the rankings offer far from the definitive, final word about what college any given student should choose, and there could be thousands of credible methods used for evaluating schools other than what *U.S. News* does, but the magazine’s guide is still a valuable, market-driven tool to help parents and students choose from among thousands of U.S. colleges. And, despite the [complaints of opportunistic politicians](http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-11-13-spellings-cover_x.htm) about a supposed vacuum of data to help parents and students navigate higher education, if one is unhappy with *U.S. News* there are sundry other resources available, including the *[Princeton Review](http://www.princetonreview.com/college/default.asp)*, the *[Kaplan College Guide](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5233823/site/newsweek/)*, the *[College Prowler](http://www.collegeprowler.com/)*, the *[Gourman Report](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679777806%3ftag=collegeconfid-20&link_code=xm2&camp=2025&dev-t=D2Y5TUCCVJ7DGE)*, and many, many more. And so I say, “Hooray, the *U.S. News* rankings are out! *Viva la* *U.S. News* rankings!” ##### Related Tags [Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).