University Provost Joan Lorden wasn't pleased when she heard UNC Charlotte's ranking among other universities in an August edition of The U.S. News & World Report.

The 2004 annual college rankings had UNC Charlotte as the 26th best southern university specializing in master's degrees. Queens University of Charlotte, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Johnson C. Smith University had higher rankings in the same category, while Duke University, Wake Forest University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and East Carolina University were ranked high in the major doctoral universities tier.

Many of the institutions on the list are private schools. UNCC has the eighth highest ranking among public institutions on the list.

Lorden said the ranking is not a true reflection of UNCC's value because the University did not send the magazine any data this year and the ranking is based on last year's data.

"You have to remember these rankings are mostly about filling magazines," said Lorden. "I think what these kinds of things do is encourage a horse race with institutions rather than promoting on a real educational basis."

Lorden said a university's growth is a good means of evaluating an institution's quality.

She pointed to an increase in enrollment and competitiveness at UNCC, while downplaying the magazine's criteria for alumni giving rates and money evaluators as a means of ranking universities.

"I think there are a lot of alumni that have a lot of real respect for this institution, but they tend to be very young," she said of UNCC. "They are not people likely to be in a position to make substantial financial contributions."

Lorden also said UNCC's ranking could have been affected by class size, a problem that could be ironed out pending completion of the academic buildings currently under construction.

Lorden said the rankings shouldn't be taken too seriously, because the magazine changes the ratings each year.

"Otherwise, you would have a handful of institutions that are old, prestigious and wealthy always ranked one, two and three. Unless the numbers change, it gets pretty boring," she said.

Lorden is not the only administrator who feels the rankings are not a true indicator of quality, but do these rankings have any influence on students when determining which school to enroll?

"Our data shows they don't," said Craig Fulton, director of undergraduate admissions at UNCC.

The department annually polls students, asking what factors and influences students use to make their enrollment decisions.

Fulton said rankings seldom matter.