After the Reset

Navigating the 2027 U.S. News Rankings

The 2027 U.S. News rankings moved roughly 1 in 5 schools into a new category and swapped a ranking factor. For many institutions, the result had little to do with anything they did this year. It also means many of the presidents, provosts, and admissions deans rating you in next spring's peer survey may not know you well.

In this session, EducationDynamics' Reputation Services team will cover what changed and how to explain it to your president. We'll walk through the fall-to-spring campaign we use to reach peer voters before they vote. You'll see why the same work now shapes what AI tools say about your institution, and how to measure reputation so the investment isn't judged on one number once a year.

JCKP

Hosted by Jamie Ceman and Karolyn Pearson
A former university CMO and a CBS News alum, now leading reputation work at EducationDynamics

Save your seat
Oct. 29 at 2:00 PM ET
From the EducationDynamics Team
2×

AMA Higher Education Marketer of the Year (Jamie Ceman)

48

national media placements a month, on average, for our partners

200+

colleges and universities we've helped grow

35+

years working only in higher education

The rankings came out. Then the questions started.

Every fall there's a week when the list lands and the mood on campus shifts. Someone forwards it to the president. Someone else pulls up last year's number. By Friday, a question has made its way down the hall to your office: what happened, and what are we doing about it?

This year that question is harder to answer. Schools moved into new categories, the formula changed, and plenty of institutions saw their number move without changing a single thing about who they are.

The part of the ranking shaped by how your peers see you is still in play, and the people who'll rate you next spring are forming their impressions right now.

NewNewNewNewYou

Same institution. Same data. New neighbors.

Roughly 1 in 5 ranked schools landed in a new category this year, which means a new peer set, and new people rating them.

Last year's peersNew this year

They've sat in your chair. Now they run the campaigns.

This isn't a vendor pitch from people who've only watched higher ed from the outside. Between them, Jamie and Karolyn have led university communications, worked in a national newsroom, and built the rank-influence campaigns we run today.

Jamie Ceman

Jamie Ceman, Ed.D.

Senior Executive Vice President, Reputation Services

Before EDDY, Jamie led marketing and communications at two universities, as assistant chancellor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and as vice president of strategic marketing and communications at Chapman University. Today she leads our reputation work, including the campaigns that reach peer voters, and steps in as a fractional CMO for institutions that need a seasoned leader at the table.

  • Former university CMO
  • 2× AMA Higher Ed Marketer of the Year
  • PRNews Top Women honoree
Karolyn Pearson

Karolyn Pearson

Vice President, Strategy Officer & Managing Director of Production

Before EDDY, Karolyn worked at CBS News, where she saw firsthand what turns a pitch into a story. Today she leads strategy and production for our reputation work, and her team has created more than 50 videos and social pieces for institutions including the University of Pennsylvania and Loyola University New Orleans. She's also executive producer of What's Your Why?, a podcast where college and university presidents talk about what drives them. Those are the same leaders who fill out the peer survey.

  • CBS News alum
  • Executive producer, What's Your Why?
  • B.A. Journalism, Colorado State

Small cohort

Capped at 40 registrations so breakout conversations are meaningful and action-oriented.

Breakout rooms

Every session includes workbook pages and structured small-group work.

One commitment

One registration covers all three days. This only works if you're in the room for all of it.

What You'll Learn

 

What changed in 2027

Separate how much of your result came from the new rules, and how much is yours to move. Leave with talking points for your president.

 

The impact on your rank

See why standing still continued to move so many schools, and where reputation shows up in the score.

 

Building the campaign

Learn who rates you in the peer survey, and sequence a campaign from now to spring across narrative, owned, earned, and paid.

 

Beyond the rankings: AI

See how the coverage that reaches voters also shapes what AI tools say about you.

 

Measuring reputation

Track visibility, authority, narrative, trust, and impact every month, so the work isn't judged on one number every year.

 

Where to start Monday

Walk away with five moves you can make before the spring survey. None of them need a new team.

Plus Live Q&A. Bring your hardest rankings question. We're saving time at the end to answer it.
Save My Seat

The next peer survey is closer than it looks.

Campaigns squeezed into the last six weeks leave most of their impact on the table. If you start this fall, you're right on time.

 
Oct. 29

You are here

Get the plan in 45 minutes

 
Fall

Foundation & story

Leadership alignment, baseline, and the narrative voters will remember

 
Nov. to Jan.

Build & seed

A home for the story, first trade placements, light paid testing

 
Feb. to May

Heavy push

Full-weight media, PR, and direct outreach while voters decide

 
Spring

Peer survey

Presidents, provosts, and admissions deans cast their ratings

The 2028 vote has already started.

Your peers are forming their view of you right now. Give yourself 45 minutes to plan how they'll see you by spring.

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