A new Washington Monthly higher education website says the publication intends to “steer the national conversation about higher education away from a maniacal focus on elite schools that is the abiding obsession of the mainstream press and towards the less selective (but often wonderful) rank-and-file colleges and universities where most Americans actually get their educations.”

Along with the website, Washington Monthly released its own college rankings, their alternative to U.S. News & World Report’s rankings. Washington Monthly evaluates schools based what they are doing for the country. The three criteria — improving social mobility, producing research, and promoting public service.