The Rhode Island School of Design announced its decision to withdraw from the U.S. News & World Report's Best College rankings on February 13, a move that joins more institutions that are turning away from the highly-criticized process. 

RISD President, Crystal Williams, explained that "principally, Rhode Island School of Design does not measure the value of our students or our academic programs based on the same factors used by U.S. News & World Report. Our educational model is predicated on three primary ways of learning: visual, material and intellectual."

Hyperallergic's Rhea Nayyar reported on the design school’s decision to abstain from the popular higher education guide, which has come under scrutiny over the last decade owing to claims of favoritism, the broader manipulation of young people along lines of prestige, and presumed career success after graduation.

The 145-year-old RISD had been ranked third overall in the “Regional Universities North” category, a placement that betrays the rankings’ oversight and difficulty in assessing institutions that are neither large research universities nor liberal arts colleges. 

With their decision, the school joins both Yale and Harvard Law Schools in withdrawing from the publication’s rankings. RISD's decision was based on a mismatch of rankings, according to Williams. 

“RISD’s institutional commitment to embodying the principles of social equity and inclusion also means that, where possible, we eschew participation in systems that strongly rely on exclusion and inequity,” Williams shared in a school statement. “I hope many more will follow.”