Colorado's top universities did well in national rankings released Thursday - even as the rankings themselves were coming under increased criticism.

Sixty-three colleges - including Naropa University in Boulder - have signed a pledge not to cooperate with the annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Naropa President Thomas Coburn said the rankings compare dissimilar institutions with different missions.

"The idea of trying to shoehorn them into a single measure is a fraud," Coburn said. "It simply doesn't make sense to try to establish that kind of competitive hierarchy."

U.S. News editor Brian Kelly dismissed opponents of the rankings as "not significant" and "a small group of folks." He said the rankings are one tool parents and students can use in selecting colleges.

Receiving high scores were the Air Force Academy, Colorado College, Regis University, the Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado campuses at Boulder and Colorado Springs and the University of Denver.

Colorado State University clung to last place in the upper division of the list. Naropa is listed as a "fourth-tier school" - the lowest ranking.

Except for Naropa, Colorado schools are not refusing to cooperate with U.S. News in gathering data. But college officials carefully distanced themselves from the rankings, saying they are useful but should not be overly relied upon in evaluating a college.

"It's one measurement about a university's performance," said CU-Boulder Provost Phil DiStefano. "We want to look at others and not just one. Our intention is not to boycott it but to use the information from USNWR with other information and have parents make a decision using multiple measures."

Twenty-five percent of the rankings are based on a survey of college officials about their peer institutions.

This year, just over half the 4,269 people who were sent surveys returned them.

Top Colorado schools in U.S. News rankings

In the "best national universities" category (258 institutions):

75 Colorado School of Mines

79 University of Colorado, Boulder

85 University of Denver

124 Colorado State University

In the "best liberal arts colleges" category (248 institutions):

26 Colorado College

In the "best universities — masters" category, western division (116 institutions):

26 Regis University

37 University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

In the "best baccalaureate colleges" category, western division (37 institutions):

1 U.S. Air Force Academy

morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5209

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