USC Aiken Ranked Number One by
U.S.News & World Report
As the Top Public Comprehensive College (Bachelor’s) in the South
View rankings on the web at: www.usnews.com
August 18, 2006
The University of South Carolina Aiken is again ranked first as the top public comprehensive college in the South in the year 2007 edition of U.S.News & World Report 's guide, America 's Best Colleges. This marks the ninth time USC Aiken has been ranked in the top public comprehensive colleges in the South category by U.S.News & World Report. USC Aiken was also ranked first in 2002, 2003, and 2006.
“We are very proud and excited to receive this news. The faculty and staff of USC Aiken deliver on our promise that we are focused on the individual student and this recognition is proof of that,” said Dr. Thomas L. Hallman, USC Aiken chancellor. “Our academic reputation, small class size, as well as increases in our alumni giving rate have helped USC Aiken remain in the top spot of this category . The faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the University all share in this achievement.”
According to USC Aiken staff, the U.S.News & World Report rankings are having an impact on the reputation of the campus among prospective students and their parents. “With the consistency of being ranked in the top three for nine years in a row, our reputation is definitely enhanced by this ranking,” said Mr. Andrew Hendrix, Director of Admissions. “Students and parents see it as a hallmark of the type of quality education students can expect to receive at USC Aiken.”
U.S.News & World Report uses six categories of indicators to capture academic quality including: academic reputation/peer assessment (25%), retention of students (25%), faculty resources (20%), student selectivity (15%), financial resources (10%), and alumni giving (5%). The indicators include input measures that reflect a school’s student body, its faculty, and its financial resources, and outcome measures that signal how well the institution does its job of educating students.
The method that U.S.News uses to rank colleges and universities consists of three basic steps. The schools are categorized primarily by mission and, in some cases, region. Then data is gathered from each college on up to 15 indicators of academic excellence. 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.
In Comprehensive Colleges – Bachelor’s Category, U.S.News and World Report includes institutions that emphasize undergraduate education and offer a small number of graduate degrees. In the Best Comprehensive Colleges in the South category, USC Aiken ranked first with Winston-Salem State University (NC) second and University of South Carolina Upstate ranked third.
The magazine will be on newsstands on August 28. The rankings are also available on the U.S.News & World Report web site at www.usnews.com.
