In the past, I suggested that the metric “percentage of adjuncts” should be included as part of any evaluation of a school. I even did some back-of-the-envelope math to look at the percentage of adjuncts at a few public colleges.

Today, Rebecca Shuman goes even further. She says that those numbers should be included in college rankings.

Here’s the cold, hard truth every prospective student, and every parent, should know: In the vast majority of subjects, when you have an adjunct professor instead of a full-timer,you are getting a substandard education. To say this, I am admitting that I myself provide subpar service to my students. But I do….

To be truly ahead of the game, the “percentage of faculty who are full-time” should be front and center on the rankings list, before even student-to-faculty ratio. Instead, it’s tucked away inside the paid version of U.S. News’ ranking website, so most “education consumers” will never see it—even though it should be the first thing you ask when you and your kid are touring a campus. Whether or not some sports nut who graduated in 1952 gives bank to the football team should matter much, much less than whether or not your professor has slept in a heated house, and thus prepared your lesson effectively.