Presenting a special episode of one of our favorite podcasts, Revisionist History. Every year, the US News & World Report ranks the best colleges and universities using a top-secret algorithm that they refuse to disclose. In Part One of a two-part series, Malcolm finds a team of undergraduate statisticians-turned-ranking super-hackers to crack the algorithm. He and an anonymous “dean” pass judgment on schools they’ve never visited, and considers the elephant in the room: Whether it’s possible that America’s most influential college rankings are biased against historically Black colleges, and other institutions that educate underprivileged students. You can hear the second half of the series right now at: http://podcasts.pushkin.fm/infamousamerica Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices