U.S. News & World Report has decided to change the way it assesses what schools are among the best in the nation.

The magazine, which annually ranks universities such as MSU, has plans to combine its rankings of Tier 1 and Tier 2 schools, as well as delete the the yield ratings factor, or the ratio of enrolled students to admitted students.

MSU is considered a Tier 2 school by the magazine.

"Over the years we have made many methodical changes," said Richard Folkers, director of media relations for the magazine. "We feel there is no such thing as a perfect ranking."

The change will probably not have a dramatic affect to the university's rankings, but that's just a guess at this point, MSU officials say.

"Until we actually see it, we just don't have good information on the impact," said June Youatt, assistant provost for undergraduate education. "Other schools are asking the same kinds of questions we're asking."

While placing all the schools into one category will only affect the numeric ranking, the yield ratings will change how the assessment of each school works. The yield rating is worth less than 2 percent.

In the past, MSU has ranked anywhere between No. 25 and No. 33 in the Tier 2 rankings.

"At MSU we tend to perceive the quality of education more broadly than U.S. News & World Report," Youatt said.

National universities are evaluated by their graduation retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, tier assessment score, financial resources, alumni donations and graduation rate performance. Taking away the yield rating should not make a significant difference, Folkers said.

But the deletion of one comparative factor in assessing a college's ranking probably won't have a large affect on larger schools, such as MSU, said Lonnie King, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. The college was ranked sixth in the nation by the magazine in April.

Larger schools have more research and faculty numbers to help out their rankings, as opposed to smaller schools who rely more on early acceptance numbers, King said.

MSU had four of its colleges ranked in the top 25 of the nation, according to the April report.

MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine was fourth in the nation, the highest for an MSU college that year.

"Anytime you're ranked well in comparison with your peers you think of it as a good feather in your cap - you've done a good job," said William Strampel, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

But the basis for the rankings is questionable, King said.

A questionnaire is sent out to faculty each year to assess the informational data of each college, King said. But no one from the magazine ever visits campus to truly understand what's going on, he said.

"They may get real numbers but they do not check," King said. "Their numbers are based on the number of people that respond to that questionnaire."