College Rankings

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Lawrence Ranked 36th by High School Counselors; 67th Among National Liberal Arts Colleges in Annual U.S. News Guide

Lawrence University was thought of more highly by high school guidance counselors than the editors at U.S. News & World Report in the magazine’s  2011 “America’s Best Colleges” report released today (8/17).

In addition to its overall rankings in national universities and national liberal arts colleges categories in its annual guide, U.S. News also includes lists and rankings of a wide variety of other niche categories, without regard for size or type of institution. Lawrence was ranked 36th nationally in a survey of guidance counselors from America’s best high schools who were asked which liberal arts colleges they think offer the best education to their students.  Among 250 national liberal arts colleges, Lawrence was ranked 67th.

One of numerous college guides released each August, U.S. News’ version uses a combination of subjective information, such as peer assessment as well as statistical analysis of a variety of factors it considers indicative of academic excellence — graduation rates, student retention and acceptance rates, among others — in determining its rankings.

Lawrence had strong showings in the areas of incoming students ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class (38 percent), graduation rate (76 percent), full-time faculty (94 percent) and alumni giving rate (43 percent) while also showing increases in freshman retention rate (90 percent) and classes with less than 20 students (75 percent) from the previous year.

“We’re happy to see U.S. News report on things like our alumni giving rate, which, even in a challenging economy, continues to be among the nation’s highest as well as freshman retention rate, which in our case, was an increase over the previous year’s already high rate,” said Ken Anselment, director of admissions at Lawrence. “High student retention and alumni giving rates tell us that people’s satisfaction with their Lawrence experience is both consistent and lasting.

“Even more than the rankings,” Anselment added, “we’re thrilled to know that high school counselors — who best understand the nuances of quality and fit between students and colleges — continue to think very highly of the Lawrence experience and recommend it to some of their best students.”

Williams College of Massachusetts earned the magazine’s top spot in the national liberal arts college category for the seventh consecutive year. Harvard University was the top-ranked institution in U.S. News’ national universities category after sharing the no. 1 ranking last year with Princeton University, which was ranked second this year.

In compiling its annual “America’ s Best Colleges” guide, U.S. News & World Report evaluates nearly 1,500 of the nation’s public and private four-year schools, using data from up to 16 separate factors, each of which is assigned a “weight” that reflects the magazine editor’s judgment as to how much that measure matters. Each school’s composite weighted score is then compared to peer institutions to determine final rankings.

Institutions are divided into several distinct categories. In addition to the best liberal arts college category that measures national institutions like Lawrence, other rankings are based on universities that grant master and doctorate degrees and colleges that are considered “regional” institutions.

Lawrence University Cited for Academic Excellence, Distinctive First-Year Program in U.S. News’ Annual Best College’s Guide

For the eighth straight year, Lawrence University’s academic excellence, including one of the country’s most distinctive first-year programs, placed it among the top quarter of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report’s 20th annual “America’s Best Colleges” report released Friday (8/18).

Lawrence was ranked 53rd among 215 leading national colleges and universities in U.S. News’ “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” category. Lawrence was the top-ranked institution in the national category from Wisconsin and Illinois.

In addition, Lawrence was again cited in U.S. News’ distinctive “First-Year Experiences” category for its signature curricular program, Freshman Studies. Lawrence has been included in the first-year experiences list every year since 2001 when U.S. News first introduced its “Programs to Look For” feature. The first-year experiences list is one of eight specialized categories the magazine uses to highlight what it calls “outstanding examples of academic programs that are believed to lead to student success.”

The specialized categories are not distinguished by institutional size or type, but include those cited as “stellar examples” most frequently in a survey of college presidents, chief academic officers and deans of admission. Institutions featured in the special categories are identified alphabetically rather than by a numerical ranking. Lawrence joined Duke, Princeton and Stanford universities, among other institutions, that were cited for distinctive first-year programs.

For the fourth year in a row, Williams College of Massachusetts earned the magazine’s top ranking among national liberal arts colleges, while Amherst College and Swarthmore College were ranked second and third, respectively.

In compiling its annual “America’s Best Colleges”guide, U.S. News & World Report evaluates nearly 1,400 of the nation’s public and private four-year schools, using data from 15 separate indicators of academic excellence such as selectivity, graduation rates, student retention, faculty resources and alumni satisfaction. Each factor is assigned a “weight” that reflects the magazine editor’s judgment as to how much that measure matters. Each school’s composite weighted score is then compared to peer institutions to determine final rankings.

Institutions are divided into several distinct categories. In addition to the best liberal arts college category that measures national institutions like Lawrence, other rankings are based on universities that grant master and doctorate degrees and colleges that are considered “regional” institutions such as St. Norbert College or UW-Oshkosh.

Lawrence University Cited for Academic Excellence, Exceptional Value in U.S. News’ Annual Best College’s Guide

Lawrence University’s academic excellence, including one of the country’s most distinctive first-year programs, as well as its exceptional education value were recognized in U.S. News & World Report’s 19th annual “America’s Best Colleges” report released Friday (8/19).

For the seventh consecutive year, Lawrence is ranked among the top quarter of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges, placing 53rd among 215 leading national colleges and universities in U.S. News’ “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” category. Lawrence was Wisconsin’s top-ranked institution in the national category.

U.S. News also cited Lawrence as an exceptional education value in its “Great Schools, Great Prices” category, which compares an institution’s academic quality to the net cost of attendance. Factoring in need-based financial aid, Lawrence was ranked the country’s 40th best value among the 215 national liberal arts colleges. Lawrence was the only institution in the state ranked in the national best values category.

Lawrence’s distinctive Freshman Studies, the college’s 60-year-old signature curricular program, was recognized for the fourth consecutive year in U.S. News’ “First-Year Experiences” category, one of eight special categories the magazine uses to highlight what it calls “outstanding examples of academic programs that are believed to lead to student success.”

The eight specialized “programs to look for” are not distinguished by institutional size or type, but include those cited most frequently in a survey of college presidents, chief academic officers and deans of admission. Institutions are not numerically ranked in the special categories, but listed alphabetically. Lawrence joined Duke, Princeton and Stanford universities, among others, who were recognized for first-year programs.

For the third year in a row, Williams College of Massachusetts earned the magazine’s top ranking among national liberal arts colleges, while Amherst College, also of Massachusetts, was ranked second for a third straight time.

In compiling its annual “America’s Best Colleges” guide, U.S. News & World Report evaluates nearly 1,400 of the nation’s public and private four-year schools, using data from 15 separate indicators of academic excellence such as selectivity, graduation rates, student retention, faculty resources and alumni satisfaction. Each factor is assigned a “weight” that reflects the magazine editor’s judgment as to how much that measure matters. Each school’s composite weighted score is then compared to peer institutions to determine final rankings.

Institutions are divided into several distinct categories. In addition to the best liberal arts college category that measures national institutions like Lawrence, other rankings are based on universities that grant master and doctorate degrees and colleges that are considered “regional” institutions such as St. Norbert College or UW-Oshkosh.

U.S. News & World Report Cites Lawrence University in Three Categories in Annual “Best College’s Guide”

Lawrence University’s outstanding overall educational experience, its distinctive Freshman Studies program and its diverse international student body are all cited by U.S. News & World Report in the magazine’s most recent annual college rankings.

In U.S. News’ 18th annual “America’s Best Colleges” report released Friday (8/20/04), Lawrence was included among the top quarter of the nation’s 217 leading national liberal arts colleges for the sixth consecutive year, earning a 53rd ranking in the “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” category.

Additionally, U.S. News recognized Lawrence in two other categories. For the third year in a row, Lawrence was included among U.S. News’ list of “first-year experiences” based on the strength of Freshman Studies, the college’s signature curricular program. The first-year experiences list is one of eight special categories the magazine uses to highlight what it describes as “outstanding examples of academic programs that are believed to lead to student success.”

The eight special categories are not distinguished by institutional size or type, but include those cited most frequently in a survey of college presidents, chief academic officers and deans of students. Institutions are not numerically ranked in the special categories, but listed alphabetically. Lawrence joined Duke, Princeton, and Stanford universities, among others, who were recognized for first-year programs.

Using enrollment figures from the past academic year, the magazine also ranked Lawrence seventh among all liberal arts colleges in percentage of international students enrolled with 11% of the student body comprised of international students. Lawrence students came from 49 countries, Hong Kong and the Palestinian Authority, in addition to 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Williams College of Massachusetts was named the top national liberal arts college for the second consecutive year, while Amherst College, last year’s second-ranked institution, and Swarthmore College, which the magazine ranked third a year ago, tied for second in this year’s rankings.

In compiling its annual “America’s Best Colleges” guide, U.S. News and World Report uses data from 15 separate indicators of academic excellence such as selectivity, graduation rates, student retention, faculty resources and alumni satisfaction. Each factor is assigned a “weight” that reflects the magazine editor’s judgment as to how much that measure matters. Each school’s composite weighted score is then compared to peer institutions to determine final rankings.

For the rankings, U.S. News evaluates nearly 1,400 of the nation’s public and private four-year schools, dividing them into several distinct categories. In addition to the best liberal arts college category, other rankings are based on universities that grant master and doctorate degrees and colleges that are considered “regional” institutions, such as St. Norbert College or UW-Oshkosh. rather than “national” ones, like Lawrence.

National Survey Reaffirms Lawrence University’s Excellence in Undergraduate Education

Lawrence University ranks among the top schools in the nation when it comes to providing a high quality undergraduate educational experience according to a just-released national study of effective educational practices.

The 2003 Report of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), co-sponsored by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning, details the results from a nation-wide survey of 185,000 first-year students and seniors at 649 four-year colleges and universities.

The student engagement survey was developed by education assessment experts as an alternative to the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings, which have been criticized for placing too much weight on institutional reputation and selectivity in admissions rather than on actual educational outcomes.

The survey annually provides comparative standards for determining how effectively colleges and universities are contributing to student learning based on five measured benchmarks: level of academic challenge; active and collaborative learning; student-faculty interaction; enriching educational experiences; and a supportive campus environment.

Lawrence scored high on all five benchmarks, regularly outscoring the composite mean for the national comparison group of all colleges and universities participating in the survey. Lawrence placed in the top 20 percent of all institutions in all but one instance and in the top 10 percent for the measures “level of academic challenge” and “enriching educational experiences.”

The NSSE benchmark measures assess the extent to which undergraduate students are involved in educational practices empirically linked to high levels of learning and development. Research over the past 30 years has shown that student engagement is critical to successful educational outcomes at the undergraduate level and that colleges and universities that encourage close student-faculty interaction, student involvement in collaborative learning and research, and active engagement in extra-curricular activities offer the most effective educational environment for student learning.

“A demanding and rigorous liberal education, fostered through individual engagement, close interaction between students and faculty members, and a supportive campus environment, is the essence of a Lawrence education,” said president Richard Warch. “Having Lawrence place among the top colleges and universities that participated in a national survey on effective educational practices, one that measures how students are actually learning, is a satisfying reaffirmation of what Lawrence does best.”

Among the NSSE’s specific findings were:

On the measure “enriching educational experiences,” Lawrence scored higher, for both first-year students and seniors, than 90 percent of the 649 four-year institutions participating in this year¹s study.

On the measure “level of academic challenge,” Lawrence’s score, for both first-year students and seniors, was better than 90 percent of the institutions participating in the study.

On the measure “student-faculty interaction,” Lawrence’s score was higher than that of 90 percent of the participating institutions for seniors, and higher than 80 percent for first-year students.

On the measure of a “supportive campus environment,” Lawrence’s score, for both first-year students and seniors, was greater than approximately 80 percent of the institutions participating in the study.

On the measure “active and collaborative learning,” Lawrence’s score for seniors was higher than 80 percent of the other institutions. The first-year student score was higher than approximately 60 percent of the comparison group.
Additional information on the National Survey of Student Engagement may be found on the NSSE Web site at www.iub.edu/~nsse.

Lawrence University Cited in Three Categories in U.S. News & World Report Annual Best College’s Guide

An increasingly global student body, an exceptional program for first-year students and an overall outstanding academic experience has again earned Lawrence University recognition in the latest U.S. News & World Report’s popular annual college rankings.

In U.S. News’s 17th annual “America’s Best Colleges” report released Friday (8/22), Lawrence was ranked 52nd in the “Best Liberal Arts Colleges – Bachelor’s” category, which comprises 217 of the nation’s leading national liberal arts colleges.

This is the fifth consecutive year Lawrence has been included among the top quarter of institutions in the magazine’s national liberal arts category.

In addition to its best colleges national ranking, Lawrence also was cited by U.S. News in two other categories.

Lawrence’s signature curricular program — Freshman Studies –earned the college inclusion in U.S. News’ listing of “first year experiences,” which was one of eight special categories the magazine calls “outstanding examples of academic programs that lead to student success.”

The categories are not distinguished by institutional size or type. Lawrence’s Freshman Studies program was cited along with other first year programs at Harvard, Yale, and Stanford universities, among others. Colleges and their programs in these specialized categories were ranked based on nominations supplied by college presidents, chief academic officers and deans of students.

Lawrence’s global reach landed it fifth, up from 15th a year ago, among all liberal arts colleges in percentage of international students enrolled, with 12% of last year’s student body comprising students from abroad. For the upcoming 2003-2004 academic year, Lawrence’s 1,300-member student body is expected to include 160 international students from about 45 countries.

“The annual publication of the U.S. News rankings has become something of a national event,” said Lawrence President Richard Warch, “though if they are to be, then I’m pleased that Lawrence has again fared well. Of special note is the recognition of our distinctive Freshman Studies program, which was also recognized by the National Endowment for the Humanities as an exemplary curricular offering and of our serious and sustained commitment to serving an international student population. The students from about 45 countries who will attend Lawrence this year contribute meaningfully to the teaching and learning community and we take great pride in having them here.”

Williams College ended Amherst College’s run of three straight number one rankings by earning the magazine’s top spot in this year’s national liberal arts colleges list. Amherst was ranked second and Swarthmore College slipped from number two year ago to number three this year.

U.S. News and World Report’s annual “America’s Best Colleges” guide uses data from 15 separate indicators of academic excellence such as selectivity, graduation rates, student retention, faculty resources and alumni satisfaction. It assigns a “weight” to each criteria that reflects how much that measure matters. Each school’s composite weighted score is then compared to peer institutions to determine final rankings.

In its rankings, U.S. News evaluates nearly 1,400 of the nation’s public and private four-year schools, dividing them into several distinct categories. In addition to the “best liberal arts college” other categories include universities that grant master and doctorate degrees and colleges that are considered “regional” rather than national” institutions, such as St. Norbert College or UW-Oshkosh.