wfn.org | United Methodist colleges ranked among America's best

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Sept. 5, 2000  News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.     10-71B{394}
 
By United Methodist News Service

Several United Methodist-related colleges and universities have been
included in the annual ranking of  "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News &
World Report.

Duke University in Durham, N.C., and Emory University in Atlanta, were among
the top 50 national universities listed by the magazine for 2001. Duke
ranked No. 8 and Emory ranked 18th.  The top-ranked national liberal arts
colleges included DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., 39th, and
Willamette University in Salem, Ore., 50th. 

The overall ranking system rests on two pillars, according to information on
the magazine's Web site: 
·	quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as
reliable indicators of academic quality; and
·	nonpartisan views of what matters in education.

The colleges are categorized by mission and region, and data are gathered
from each on up to 16 indicators of academic excellence. Each factor is
assigned a weight based on the magazine's own judgment. Finally, the schools
in each category are ranked against their peers, based on their composite
weighted score. The indicators used to capture academic quality fall into
seven categories:
·	academic reputation;
·	retention of students;
·	faculty resources;
·	student selectivity;
·	financial resources;
·	alumni giving; and
·	(for national universities and liberal arts colleges) graduation
rate performance, the difference between the proportion of students expected
to graduate and the proportion that actually do.  

Other United Methodist-related schools and their rankings are:

Midwestern universities - University of Evansville (Ind.) (11th);
Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio (13th); North Central College,
Naperville, Ill. (14th); and Baker University, Baldwin, Kan. (31st).

Midwestern liberal arts colleges - Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio
(5th); Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio (7th); Simpson College,
Indianola, Iowa (8th); Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio (13th); Adrian
(Mich.) College (30th); and McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill. (30th).

Northern liberal arts colleges -- Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pa.
(9th); and Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pa. (11th).

Southern universities - Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport (12th).

Southern liberal arts colleges - Emory and Henry College, Emory, Va. (3rd);
Columbia (S.C.) College (10th); Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Fla.
(19th); High Point (N.C.) University (19th); and LaGrange (Ga.) College
(29th).

Western universities - Oklahoma City University (25th).

Western liberal arts colleges - McMurry University, Abilene, Texas (16th).

#  #  #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org