Samford ranks highest among Alabama schools

Samford University has vaulted into third place in the South among master’s degree institutions in this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings of America’s Best Colleges, making it Samford’s highest ranking in history. 
   
Samford ranks higher in its peer group than any Alabama university or college in the 2006 selections.
   
Samford moved up from fifth in the South in its category, Best Universities–Master’s, which includes schools offering a full range of undergraduate and master’s programs and some doctoral programs.  
   
The Best Universities–Master’s category is the largest of four ranking categories (570 schools) and is divided into four geographic regions.
   
Samford also ranks 13th in the South in the Best Value category of schools in its peer group.  
   
“Public recognition for academic quality and effectiveness is hard to come by, so it means a great deal to be acknowledged by peers and other experts,” said Samford President Thomas E. Corts.  
   
“Samford does not operate as though it were in a contest, but it is reassuring to our students, parents, faculty and investors to know that Samford is highly valued,” Corts said. 
   
“And to have been highly-ranked for more than 15 consecutive years is an honor of which we can be proud.”
   
Samford has been ranked seventh or higher in its category by U.S. News & World Report since 1990.
   
The annual rankings are based on a school’s academic reputation, freshman retention rate, graduation rate, class size, student-faculty ratio, percentage of full-time faculty, student selectivity and acceptance rate, and percentage of alumni giving. 
   
Also listed in the magazine was Judson College, which tied for eighth place in the percentage of classes with 20 or less people enrolled. Eighty-eight percent of Judson’s classes have 20 or fewer students.
   
Judson President David Potts said in response to the listing, “We hope that U.S. News & World Report will continue to refine its process in order to reflect more accurately quality and opportunity in undergraduate education at colleges and universities across the nation.” Ranking in the top national universities were Auburn University (38) and the University of Alabama (50), which symbolize wide-ranging undergraduate majors and graduate level degrees.
   
With Samford in the top master’s universities, Spring Hill College ranked 12th, Tuskegee University tied with Carson-Newman College in Tennessee at 32nd place and the University of Montevallo finished even with Florida A&M University in 58th place.
   
Focusing on undergraduate education, Stillman College took 34th place in the South among top comprehensive colleges while Birmingham-Southern College tied for 88th place as the only Alabama institution in the top liberal arts college category.
   
Talladega College, Miles College and Alabama State University also ranked among schools with the lowest acceptance rates, “making them the nation’s most competitive in terms of admissions,” according to U.S. News & World Report.
   
For more on the U.S. News & World Report study of the nation’s best colleges visit www.usnews.com.