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 Providence, RI – The 2005 edition of U.S. News & World Reports’ popular college guide, America’s Best Colleges, finds Providence College once again in familiar and prestigious company. Providence is ranked #2 in the north region’s “Best Universities – Master’s” category – the designation for 572 universities nationwide offering a full range of undergraduate and master’s programs.
In one “key criteria in judging schools” – graduation rate – Providence ranks highest among its peer institutions nationwide, with an average graduation rate of 85 percent.
This ranking in the popular annual college guide marks the ninth consecutive year Providence has been ranked as one of the top two universities in the north region. Providence shared the #1 position with Villanova University of Pennsylvania in 1998 and was ranked #2 in the 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999 and 1997 editions of the guide.
Providence ’s #2 ranking in the north region is a combination of a number of weighted factors that U.S. News uses to evaluate more than 1,400 colleges and universities and rank them among their peers. These include analysis of peer assessment scores, average freshman retention rate, average graduation rate, percentage of classes under 20, the student/faculty ratio, SAT/ACT scores, freshmen high school class standings, acceptance rate, and average alumni giving rate.
Providence ’s 92 percent average freshmen retention rate is the fourth highest among all universities in its category. The College also is listed among the top 15 schools in its category offering the “best value” which relates a school’s academic quality to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of financial aid. “The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal,” explain guide editors.
“Providence College’s continued high rankings in two critical measures of student satisfaction – the average freshmen retention and graduation rates – is particularly noteworthy,” says Providence College President Rev. Philip A. Smith, O.P. “This is welcome affirmation that Providence College offers a challenging and stimulating environment where students learn, contribute and flourish.”
According to Father Smith, this achievement has not come at the expense of selectivity. He notes that the incoming freshman class at Providence College , for the second consecutive year, has average combined SAT scores of 1200 or more. Nearly three-quarters of these students ranked in the top 20 percent of their high school class. The consistently high rankings by U.S. News over the last eight years reflect the College’s continuing commitment to recruit, enroll, and retain students with high academic potential who discover that Providence is their place to excel.
The high regional and national ranking is particularly gratifying to Fr. Smith as he begins his eleventh and final year as president of Providence College . One of his primary goals when he assumed the office in 1994 was to raise the College’s academic stature. In addition to recruiting and retaining more high-ability students, the College hired 45 percent of current faculty members in the last decade; every Ivy League and Big Ten school is now represented on the faculty.
U.S. News editors recommend that college-bound students use the rankings as a tool to help individuals find a school that is the right fit for their talents, interests, and abilities. “While no one would say it’s a good idea to choose your undergraduate institution by a single number, the U.S. News rankings can help you learn a lot about a school,” note the guide authors. “Combined with college visits, interviews, and your own intuition, the rankings can be a powerful tool in the college admissions process.”
Information on the 2005 rankings can be found on the U.S. News Web site at: www.USNews.com. Both the weekly edition of U.S. News featuring the college rankings and the book, America’s Best Colleges, will be available at newsstands on Monday, August 23, 2004 .
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