It probably had to happen eventually. The New York Times has decided to start ranking colleges but with its own left-liberal twist. It will rank schools on how economically diverse the student body is. Specifically (in the one official description so far) it will launch “a new rating of colleges and universities based on their ability to attract underprivileged kids.”

David Leonhardt (former economics columnist for the Times) will lead the project and will give some details on September 8 at a Times-sponsored conference on higher education.

The Chronicle on Higher Education reveals what is public so far about this ranking and suggests that it will be more like Washington Monthly’s ranking of colleges than U.S. News and World Report’s. The Washington Monthly, the magazine states on its website, “asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country.”