EMU placed 181 out of 266 national liberal arts colleges in its annual “Best Colleges” issue that hits the newsstands Aug. 31.

Each college and university received a score based on 16 indicators, including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty-student ratios and class sizes, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. The “National Liberal Arts” category, in which EMU is ranked, is defined as “schools emphasizing undergraduate education and awarding at least 50 percent of degrees in the arts and sciences.”

Within the 266 schools in the “national liberal arts” category, EMU rated high in several key areas, with an average freshman retention rate of 79 percent, well above the national average, a high percentage of full-time faculty (76 percent), a graduation rate (62 percent) that outperformed predictions by 3 percent and an alumni giving rate of 26 percent.

Dr. BJ Miller, director of institutional research and effectiveness, expressed disappointment that EMU wasn’t highlighted by the publication as a school with “A Strong Focus on Student Success,” noting: “Our cross-cultural experience is clearly a stellar example of a strong study abroad program, according to their definition, but I believe we weren’t included because we’re not as widely-known as the schools that made the list.”

A complete summary of the methodology used to rank each school can be found online at .

All 2011 rankings are available on the magazine’s Web site at .

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EMU is now ranked in the third tier in the “national liberal arts” category. The university was listed in the fourth tier last year.

Many of the rankings and some articles from the America’s Best Colleges guidebook will appear in the August 23, 2004, weekly issue of U.S. News & World Report. The annual guidebook will go on sale the same day.

Prior to the 2002 edition, EMU had been ranked in the top ten in the “Southern liberal arts colleges” category in the “Best Colleges” issue. EMU chose to go for the national ranking when the magazine adopted the Carnegie Foundation’s updated classification system. The Carnegie Foundation methodology is the most widely-used by researchers and foundations in rating academic quality.

The Carnegie Commission defines a national liberal arts school as one emphasizing undergraduate education and awarding at least 50 percent of its degrees in the liberal arts disciplines. There were 217 schools measured in the “national liberal arts” category in which EMU has been ranked. Most are private institutions; 21 are public.

Each college and university received a score based on seven indicators – peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. Within its third tier of over 50 colleges and universities, EMU improved over last year in peer assessment score, freshman retention rate and SAT/ACT test scores.

A 2003 freshman retention rate of 79 percent placed EMU well above the national average for private schools. An alumni giving rate of 33 percent is also well above the average for schools listed in the third tier.

Other Virginia schools in the third tier are Hampden-Sydney, Roanoke and Emory and Henry colleges.

“When we changed rankings from regional to national we knew we would need to establish name recognition,” said Shirley B. Yoder, vice president for enrollment and marketing. “I’m very pleased that we have moved up in a short period of time. It speaks well of the quality of our students, our faculty and our alumni commitment.

“While rankings like these may help students to compare schools, a campus visit will often prove to be the most valuable way to evaluate a student’s fit with a particular school,” Yoder added.

(All rankings are available on the magazine’s website at .)

EMU, founded in 1917, is a Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition that challenges students to pursue their life calling through scholarly inquiry, artistic creation, guided practice and life-changing cross-cultural encounter. To this end, EMU is committed to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.