( CNN ) -- The annual report of national college rankings published by U.S. News & World Report is , regrettably , one of the most powerful forces in American higher education . I say `` regrettably '' because the list of rankings , although comprising data , surveys and statistics , does n't even begin to express the quality , comprehensiveness and special character of the more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the country . The report is so powerful that an administrator at Claremont McKenna College , a small , elite liberal arts school in California , submitted inflated data in order to enhance the college 's standing . Is anyone surprised by this revelation ? Just as athletes use steroids and gambling happens at Rick 's , colleges and universities succumb to their own set of pressures , including the desire to be on top in the rankings . U.S. News & World Report has been highly successful at inducing far too many high school students and their families to think that there are only a handful of colleges worth attending in the entire country , and by extension saying that if a student does n't get into one of the 'select ' few , then life will never be worth living . Attending a Tier 3 school does n't make you a Tier 3 person , nor does enrolling at Princeton make you a prince . Ironically , we know from a survey of human resource managers ( these are the people who actually hire college graduates ) that the colleges they recruit from most enthusiastically are not necessarily the same as the ones U.S. News implies students should strive to enter . A college degree has become a 21st-century economic necessity . Getting into the `` best '' college is a national obsession . Many believe it 's a passport to a golden future . Let 's play a numbers game : 100 high school seniors each apply to 10 colleges ; 1,000 applications are now in play . Each college hopes to enroll 10 students ; 100 freshman spots are in the air . All of the 100 students will have a place to go to college but not every one will get into his or her first choice , nor will every college get its highest-ranked applicant . Students strive to make themselves extremely attractive to specific colleges , and colleges work hard to make themselves more appealing to specific students . The game is afoot . To stand out from the crowd of applicants , students try to game the system . They take prep courses to improve their SAT scores ; enroll in `` easy '' classes to get higher grades ; search out exotic internships ; and play sports or music , or master additional foreign languages -- not because they necessarily want to but because they believe they have to in order to look outstanding . This is an unfortunate outgrowth of an overwrought system . And it should not be surprising to learn that schools also game the system by slicing and dicing their numbers in a fashion that makes them appear more appealing in one or more U.S. News category , and thus more attractive to potential students and their families . But gaming the system and providing enhanced data are two entirely different things . The first is , as I said before , regrettable , and the later -- providing inflated information -- is `` extremely regrettable . '' My mother would call it lying . Americans love lists and rankings . And if a person can start out at the top , then all the better . For many people , scarcity breeds adoration : Everyone wants to go to Harvard because not everyone can go to Harvard ( nor should they ) . As Super Bowl season comes to a close , we will sneak up on March Madness . There is an inexplicable correlation between the NCAA Final Four participants and increases in applications to those four schools . Everyone loves a winner . This is parallel to product placement in TV shows or movies . See James Bond drive an Aston-Martin and perhaps you 'll come in to the showroom for a test drive . See Duke play basketball and perhaps you 'll come to campus to meet Coach K. The rankings are n't going away . U.S. News & World Report has a highly profitable mare in its stable : The rankings are about making money . The business of U.S. News is to sell magazines -- online and in print . It is secondly about mission : providing consumers with a public service product in return for money . Colleges must do a better job of educating applicants to the limits ( and some values ) of the rankings `` racket . '' The public must remember that there is no 'best ' college for any one student . After an hour 's conversation , I 'll give a student a list of 20 schools where he or she will ( a ) get an excellent education ( b ) have a wonderful time ( c ) be able to afford the tuition , and ( d ) graduate . And I 'm pretty sure my list of 20 and U.S. News ' list of 20 are not necessarily the same . Is vichyssoise better than chicken soup with matzoh balls or just more satisfying to some people than to others ? Frequently , it 's a matter of taste more than nutrition . Follow CNN Opinion on Twitter . Join the conversation on Facebook . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Joel Trachtenberg .
David Trachtenberg : Magazine 's college rankings are powerful . One student submitted inflated rankings in order to maintain standing . Trachtenberg : Americans love colleges ; these are n't going away . He notes there is no ' best ' college for any one student .