wfn.org | ABCUSA: RELATED SCHOOLS RANKED BY NEWSMAGAZINES

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

AMERICAN BAPTIST-RELATED SCHOOLS RANKED 
BY NATIONAL NEWSMAGAZINES
 The senior colleges and universities related to 
American Baptist Churches USA continue to receive 
prominent rankings by U.S. News and World Reports, and 
one of those schools, William Jewell College, has been 
cited by Time magazine as its liberal arts "College of the 
Year."
 The annual U.S. News "America's Best Colleges" 
issue, currently on newsstands, assesses 1,400 four-year 
schools in the U.S. for such factors as academic 
reputation, selectivity, faculty resources, financial 
resources and graduation rate.
 In the category "Comprehensive Colleges--
Bachelor's," Linfield College, McMinnville, Oreg. (#1, West) 
and Franklin College, Franklin, Ind. (#15, Midwest) were 
among the highest-rated schools in the country.  The 
category focuses on schools offering undergraduate 
education in the liberal arts and professional fields.
 Other American Baptist-related schools in this 
category include: Benedict College, Columbia, S.C. (fourth 
tier, South); Florida Memorial College, Miami (fourth tier, 
South); Judson College, Elgin, Ill. (second tier, Midwest); 
Keuka College, Keuka Park, N.Y. (second tier, North); 
Ottawa University, Ottawa, Kans. (second tier, Midwest); 
Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C. (third tier, South).
 In the category "Universities-Master's" (which 
includes schools with undergraduate and master's-level 
programs), the University of Redlands, Redlands, Calif. 
(#11, West) was ranked among the best in the U.S.  Also 
in this category were Eastern College, St. Davids, Pa. 
(third tier, North) and the University of Sioux Falls, Sioux 
Falls, S.D. (fourth tier, Midwest).  
 Ranked in the national "Liberal Arts Colleges-
Bachelor's" category were: Kalamazoo College, 
Kalamazoo, Mich. (second tier); Virginia Union University, 
Richmond, Va. (fourth tier); and William Jewell College, 
Liberty, Mo. (third tier). 
 William Jewell College also was singled out by 
Time (Sept. 10 issue) as its liberal arts "College of the 
Year."  According to the magazine, it focused this year on 
schools "with highly effective programs to help first-year 
students make a successful transition into college 
life...[especially] comprehensive freshman programs that 
have improved retention rates and created a sense of 
community for students."   In her Time profile of the 
college, Rebecca Winters wrote: "It would be tough for a 
freshman to slip through the cracks at William Jewell 
College...this 1,400-student Baptist liberal arts school...has 
caulked up every crevice where a newcomer might 
stumble."  She noted that William Jewell's "mentor 
program reaches out to incoming students in the spring 
before their freshman year" and "newcomers are assigned 
as many as five contacts during their first months on 
campus, including two faculty members and three 
students."
 The school is dually aligned with American Baptist 
Churches USA and the Missouri Baptist Convention.

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