Eastern Mennonite University has moved up in the rankings in “U.S. News & World Report” magazine’s “America’s Best Colleges” issue for 2007.
EMU moved from the fourth to the “third tier” ranking among schools in the “national liberal arts-bachelor’s” category.
Highlights of the college rankings are scheduled for publication in the Aug. 28 edition of “U.S. News & World Report” magazine, available for newsstand purchase on Monday, Aug. 21 – the same day that the newsstand guide is also available.
The Carnegie Commission defines a national liberal arts school as one emphasizing undergraduate education and awarding at least 50 percent of its degrees in the liberal arts disciplines. There were 215 schools measured in the “national liberal arts-bachelor’s” category in which EMU has been ranked; most are private institutions; 22 are public.
Each college and university received a score based on 15 indicators, including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty-studio ratios and class sizes, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.
Within the 52 colleges and universities in the third tier, EMU rated high with an average freshman retention rate of 78 percent, well above the national average, and in the percentage of full-time faculty (88 percent). EMU’s alumni giving rate of 31 percent is also well above the average for schools listed in the third tier.
“I am proud of the EMU faculty and students, and we are pleased to be recognized as a high quality private university,” President Loren Swartzendruber said of the “U.S. News” ranking.
All 2007 rankings are available on the magazine’s website at www.usnews.com