And then brags about how much research funding they bring in, which is heavily used in creating a “ranking” of that school within that research area. Which isn’t really wrong, if you’re evaluating its ability to get someone from undergraduate to graduate research in that area, or grad to post-grad.
That ranking gets the school (or at least is thought to indirectly get it) student dollars and donor dollars. And sometimes state funding dollars.
So following the money and prestige, it’s a simple story I think.
Being nitpicky: Professors are selected to be legibly good at research.
Which means getting government grants, from which the university takes a cut of overhead.
And then brags about how much research funding they bring in, which is heavily used in creating a “ranking” of that school within that research area. Which isn’t really wrong, if you’re evaluating its ability to get someone from undergraduate to graduate research in that area, or grad to post-grad.
That ranking gets the school (or at least is thought to indirectly get it) student dollars and donor dollars. And sometimes state funding dollars.
So following the money and prestige, it’s a simple story I think.