Mount Union ranks on U.S. News list

Staff report

ALLIANCE

The University of Mount Union has been ranked sixth in U.S. News & World Report’s 2014 America’s Best Colleges list for Midwest Regional Colleges.

The university also is ranked eighth in the magazine’s Best Values in the same region, which includes institutions in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Edinboro University, in Edinboro, Pa., also made the magazine’s “Best Colleges” list, earning a spot in the top tier as one of the best universities in the North.

“This top-tier ranking provides national recognition of the excellence of an Edinboro education,” Edinboro University President Julie E. Wollman said. “It affirms for prospective and current students and their parents that our focus on student success yields quantifiable results. I am very excited about this and thank the faculty and staff for the work they did throughout the year to demonstrate our quality.”

Edinboro ranks 126th on the Regional Universities, North list.

Mount Union’s 2014 Best Colleges ranking is up from last year’s 12th-place finish in the Midwest Regional Colleges category and marks the 23rd- consecutive year the university has been included in the listing.

“We take great pride in our long history as one of America’s Best Colleges,” said President Richard F. Giese. “This year’s sixth-place ranking is an all-time high for Mount Union, and we are pleased to be ranked so favorably among our peers in the Midwest.”

To determine the America’s Best Colleges rankings, U.S. News & World Report tallied the results of surveys of college presidents, deans and admissions directors. These surveys, combined with educational data provided by the colleges themselves, resulted in the rankings. Colleges and universities were ranked according to graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

The Best Values rankings are determined by comparing the ratio of quality to price, need-based aid and average discount of only those schools that were ranked in or near the top half of their 2014 Best Colleges ranking categories, according to the U.S. News & World Report website.

“We are especially thrilled to be ranked so highly in the Best Values listing, which reinforces what we have known for years — the University of Mount Union provides a high-quality education of value that is a proven investment as evidenced by the successes of our students and alumni and supported by this accolade and others we have recently received,” said Giese.

Last month, Mount Union was ranked No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, for return on investment by collegefactual.com and as one of the top schools in Ohio for the greatest lifetime return on investment by AffordableCollegesOnline.org.