August 19, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY
For the second year in a row Calvin College is rated the second-best college
in its category in the annual U.S. News & World Report college guide.
Calvin is number-two in "Best Midwest Comprehensive Colleges" according to the
2006 edition of "America's Best Colleges," the annual U.S News guide slated to
hit newstands next week.
There are 108 schools in Calvin's category, defined as colleges and
universities that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree
programs - in the liberal arts, which account for fewer than half of their
bachelor's degrees, and in professional fields such as business, nursing and
education.
For 2006, St. Mary's College in Indiana is again the top-rated school in
Calvin's category, while Taylor, Ind., is third. St. Norbert, Wis., again is
fourth this year, while Ohio Northern and Otterbein, Ohio, are fifth and sixth
respectively. A quartet of Iowa schools - Wartburg (7th), Simpson (8th),
Central (9th) and Dordt (tied for 10th with Augustana, S.D.) - round out the
top 10.
Interestingly the top four schools in Calvin's category all have strong
religious ties. MIAA colleague St. Mary's is a Catholic women's college,
Calvin is part of the Reformed tradition of historic Christianity, Taylor is an
interdenominational, evangelical college and St. Norbert is a Catholic college
in the Norbertine tradition.
In addition to being rated second-best in the Midwest, Calvin also received
two mentions in a category called "Programs to Look For," examples of academic
programs that are believed to lead to student success. There were eight
categories in all in "Programs to Look For" and all schools in the U.S. News
rankings were eligible to be included in those eight categories.
Calvin was included in "Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects" as part of a
group of colleges that excel in helping students to do intensive and
self-directed research or creative work that results in an original scholarly
paper or other product that can be formally presented. Other state schools
that received kudos in that category include Hope and the University of
Michigan.
It also was included in "Service Learning" as part of a group of colleges that
have outstanding service-learning programs. The University of Michigan also
was included in that category.
Calvin vice president Tom McWhertor says that Calvin's U.S. News category of
Midwest Comprehensive Colleges includes a number of top-notch academic
institutions. He adds: "We're happy to be recognized as one of them."
Calvin director of admissions Dale Kuiper concurs, but also says that that
college rankings should never be seen as the primary means by which prospective
students and their parents measure a college's quality.
"The various rankings, like this U.S. News guide, do provide a helpful
service," he says, "if they are not taken too seriously. The data they provide
can be helpful to high school students, parents, guidance counselors and
others. It provides a convenient collection of criteria like graduation rates,
first-year retention rates, size of classes and student-faculty ratio. But
those are only a few of the many ways that should be used to measure whether a
student will fit well with a particular college."
Schools annually are rated by U.S. News in such categories as peer assessment,
freshman retention rate, graduation rate, full-time faculty and more.
Calvin scored the best of any school in its category in peer assessment, a
rating that measures what presidents, provosts and deans of admissions at
Calvin's competitors think of the school's academic programs. Kuiper was
pleased by that, noting that to be recognized positively by one's peers is
encouraging.
Calvin also scored high in its category in percentage of faculty who are
full-time (91%), freshman retention rate (87%), graduation rate (73%) and
alumni giving rate (31%).
U.S News & World Report has been ranking colleges since 1983 and its survey is
widely considered to be one of the most thorough. The survey ranks colleges on
academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student
selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. Calvin has been a
top-ranked school 18 of the last 20 years.
Other state schools also received kudos from U.S. News & World Report.
The University of Michigan was tied for 25th in the category of Best National
Universities, while Michigan State University was tied for 74th.
In the category of Best Midwest Master's Universities the University of
Detroit Mercy was 26th, Aquinas was tied for 46th and Grand Valley was tied for
50th. Cornerstone was named to the fourth tier (109th to 142nd) in that
category. Grand Valley was rated the 10th best public university in its
category.
And in Best National Liberal Arts Colleges, Kalamazoo was tied for 55th, while
Albion was tied for 84th and Hope and Hillsdale were tied for 94th and 104th
respectively.
For complete rankings info see www.usnews.com
Contact Dale Kuiper at 526-6110 (w) or 915-9070 (m)
-end-
Received on Thu Aug 18 23:59:14 2005
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