Naperville’s North Central College has landed on U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best Colleges for the 30th consecutive year.
North Central No. 19 in Best Regional Universities Midwest
This year, North Central moved up five spots from last year in its region, landing as No. 19 in the Best Regional Universities Midwest category. That’s out of 164 institutions included in the rankings.
It also saw upward movement in other categories, shifting up five notches to No. 28 among the Best Value Schools, and making a leap of 13 spots to the No. 48 slot in Top Performers on Social Mobility.
Its highest rank was No. 7 in the Best Colleges for Veterans listing. Its undergraduate psychology and undergraduate engineering programs also got a nod.
In a news release, North Central College President Abiodun Goke-Pariola praised the school’s faculty and staff for their focus on “putting students first and ensuring the quality and value of their educational experience.”
“It’s rewarding to see that focus reflected in our rankings as a Best Value school and as a Top Performer on Social Mobility,” said Goke-Pariola. “In a rapidly changing workforce, we instill in our students with the skills and disposition to tackle unscripted problems that are not in a textbook or that may not even exist yet. By doing this we are preparing them for lifelong success in any field of their choosing.”
Determining the best colleges’ rankings
U.S. News & World Report puts out its America’s Best Colleges rankings each year. This year was its 40th annual report.
There are 17 ranking factors taken into account. Those include graduation rates, graduation rate performance, first-year retention rates, peer assessment, standardized tests, student-faculty ratio, full-time faculty and their salaries, and borrower debt. Each of the factors has a different weight, which are then totaled for an overall score.
This year the top-ranked school in Regional Universities Midwest was Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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