SMU listed in U.S. News ‘Best National Universities’ category
WINONA, Minn. — U.S. News & World Report has ranked Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in its “America’s Best Colleges” survey for 2008. The annual listing of more than 1,400 schools is available online at www.usnews.com. Rankings were announced today, Aug. 17.
Saint Mary’s is ranked in the third tier of the U.S. News “National Universities” category. The third tier includes schools ranked 131 through 187 — of 262 total — and is not ranked numerically. Other universities in this same tier include: De Paul University, George Mason University, Seton Hall University, the University of St. Thomas and St. John’s University in New York.
Taking top honors in the “National Universities” category are Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University and Stanford University. Saint Mary’s, St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota are the only Minnesota schools represented in this category, and SMU is one of only 17 Catholic universities in the United States represented in this category.
U.S. News & World Report ranked “National Universities” in a top tier, third tier and fourth tier. Its other institutional categories include: “Liberal Arts Colleges,” “Universities-Master’s” and “Baccalaureate Colleges.”
This year SMU was grouped in the “National Universities” category by U.S. News & World Report, due to reclassification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The Carnegie Foundation reclassified SMU from a master’s comprehensive to a doctoral institution. This change reflects the rising number of doctoral degrees given by Saint Mary’s through its Ed.D. in Leadership program. In previous years, SMU was in the first tier of U.S. News’ “Midwestern Colleges and Universities with Master Degree Programs” category. Last year, SMU was ranked 31st in the top tier of this category.
“Although it’s hard to see us leave the top-tier ranking in our previous category, we are excited that this re-categorization means our doctoral program is growing and thriving,” said Dr. Jeffrey Highland, SMU Provost. “The re-classification now puts us in the same category as this nation’s finest educational institutions, and we’re proud to be associated with the best. We’re also proud to be able to offer a distinctive, close and personal education within the context of a national university.”
The “National Universities” category includes 262 American universities (164 public and 98 private) that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees.
The method that U.S. News uses to rank colleges and universities consists of three basic steps. The schools are categorized primarily by mission and region, and data is gathered from each institution on indicators of academic excellence. The indicators used to measure academic excellence fall into seven categories: retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate. The indicators include both input measures (which reflect the quality of students, faculty, and other resources used in education) and outcome measures (which capture the results of the education an individual receives). Of the institutions ranked in the third tier, SMU ranked third in the rate of alumni giving.
