Want to get ahead in the world? Rise in the eyes of your peers and colleagues? Then don't start a graduate program. Upward mobility for graduate programs typically means a higher ranking by the National Research Council or by U.S. News & World Report. But raising the ranking of a graduate program is like building a tower in the fog. You can erect a fancy edifice, but it will be hard for observers to see, so they'll just remember the old building that used to stand on that spot.
Nor will they always remember correctly. Malcolm Gladwell, writing for The New Yorker, recently cited a case in which the Pennsylvania State University law school received a solid ranking in an informal poll—even though Penn State doesn't have a law school. Respondents reacted to the reputation of the Penn State name. (This was before the university's recent notoriety.) Imagine the frustration of a dean whose law school finishes lower than a nonexistent rival. How slippery the rankings pole, when greased by reputation.
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