Westminster College Ranked 15th Among Nation's Liberal Arts Colleges

Westminster College is ranked 15th among the nation's 201 liberal arts colleges, according to the Washington Monthly's 2007 Annual College Guide.

The third annual college guide ranks the nation's colleges and universities on social mobility (a measure of how well the school performs as an engine of social mobility by exceeding its predicted graduation rate and serving students); research (how the school supports scientific and humanistic study); and service (how effectively does the school foster an ethic of giving back to the country through service).

Westminster College ranked third in the country in social mobility by exceeding its predicted graduation rate by 17%. Westminster was 20th in the nation in service and 71st in graduates who earn PhDs.

"The Washington Monthly College Rankings are meant to provide: a guide not just to what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country. For the third year in a row, we've sifted through reams of publicly available data to come up with what we think is a fair assessment of which colleges are living up to their public interest mission, and which aren't," according to the Washington Monthly.

Top 30 Liberal Arts Colleges

Rank in U.S.
News (2007)
1. Presbyterian College *
2. Smith College 19
3. Wheaton College 61
4. Wesleyan University 10
5. Virginia Military Institute 86
6. Claremont McKenna College 12
7. Bucknell University 29
8. Williams College 1
9. Amherst College 2
10. Spelman College 74
11. Vassar College 12
12. St. Olaf College 55
13. Oberlin College 22
14. Furman University 41
15. Westminster College *
16. Siena College *
17. Seton Hill University *
18. St. John's University 69
19. Colgate University 16
20. Morehouse College *
21. Wellesley College 4
22. Mount Holyoke College 24
23. Whitman College 36
24. Washington and Lee University 17
25. Bates College 23
26. Haverford College 9
27. College of the Holy Cross 32
28. Hobart and William Smith Colleges 67
29. Swarthmore College 3
30. Bryn Mawr College 20
"We aren't trying, as U.S. News does, to rate how selective or academically prestigious a given school is, but rather how much it contributes to the common good," Washington Monthly Editor Paul Glastris said. "The whole point is to recognize the broader role colleges and universities play in our national life and to reward those institutions that best fulfill that role.

"So instead of measuring, say, the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen, or the percentage of alumni who donate money, we rank colleges based on three criteria: social mobility, research, and service. In other words, is the school recruiting and graduating low-income students? Is it producing PhDs and cutting-edge research? And is it encouraging in its students an ethic of service?"

Glastris added, "If you're looking for information on which schools are the most selective, or which have the nicest swimming pools, the Washington Monthly College Rankings aren't for you. But we hope they will be some use - to students of modest means looking for colleges that will help them succeed; to alumni wanting to get a sense of their alma maters' commitment to the public interest; or to elected officials trying to think of ways to get more bang for the public bucks they're charged with spending on higher education."

Visit http://www2.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.collegeguide.html more information about the Washington Monthly 2007 Annual College Guide.

About Westminster College...

Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is ranked 15th among liberal arts colleges, according to the Washington Monthly 2007 Annual College Guide. Westminster is a national leader in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 368 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and was recognized by the Templeton Guide as a "Character Building College."

Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus.