The first maxim of politics is that you can’t beat something with nothing.
Boycotting the U.S. News college rankings is a fine idea. But that survey filled a void. Either the colleges themselves or some friendly foundation needs to write a reasonable ranking system, collect the data, and publish the results. It would be nice if that ranking system made at least some attempt to measure value added rather than simply the quality of the incoming students.
As long as the colleges insist that their mission is too sacred to measure, they’re going to continue to be measured by amateurs.