UMC Ranked a U.S. News “Best College” for Fourth Year
The University of Minnesota, Crookston, (UMC) has been ranked one of the best public colleges in the Midwest for a fourth consecutive year, according to U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings for 2002. UMC was ranked among the top three colleges in the category “Top Public Midwestern Comprehensive Colleges--Bachelor's.”
UMC will receive the
recognition in U.S. News and World Report’s annual “best
colleges” issue, scheduled for release on September 10. The 2002
rankings were made public Thursday, September 6, 2001, at the U.S. News
website www.usnews.com.
“It’s been a banner year for us for state and national recognition. We've been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Online Learning Magazine, Converge Magazine, and on Minnesota Public Radio,” says Curt Almlie, Director of University Relations at UMC. “But being ranked in the top three on a U.S. News list is certainly an honor, and it comes at a time when we, as a campus, are actively striving for excellence. This kind of recognition helps reinforce that.”
This year U.S. News changed the names of its ranking categories to better reflect college missions as described by the Carnegie classification system. UMC’s category, "Top Public Comprehensive Colleges--Bachelor's," contained 322 comprehensive colleges that focus on undergraduate education. These colleges were further categorized into four geographical regions.
According to U.S. News, the method of ranking colleges and universities consists of three basic steps. The schools are first categorized by size, mission, and region. In the spring data is gathered from each institution regarding several indicators of academic excellence, including academic reputation; retention of students; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; graduation rate performance; and alumni giving. Each factor is assigned a weight that reflects U.S. News’ judgment about how much each measure matters. Finally, the colleges in each category are ranked against their peers, based on their composite weighted score.
UMC is beginning its ninth year as a baccalaureate degree granting university. It is also in its ninth year of providing notebook computers to every student.
To see all the 2002 U.S. News rankings online go to www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex.htm.
Posted 09/07/2001
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435