posted August 28, 2008
) Lee University freshmen Desyree Williams and Hank Thacker of Clermont, Fl. Click to enlarge. |
U.S. News ranks schools in one of four "tiers" by region and institutional type. Lee was ranked among America's best master's universities in the south along with schools like MTSU, Tennessee Tech, Lipscomb, Belmont, Appalachian State, the Citadel. The category ranked 572 schools in four regions which provide a full-range of undergraduate and master's programs.
The Great Schools, Great Prices list relates the institutions' academic quality as indicated by its 2009 U.S. News ranking to the 2007-2008 academic year net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included. Schools on this list include Loyola University, Brenau University and Queens University of Charlotte.
The Best Colleges rankings are based on a variety of criteria including peer assessment which is a ranking of Lee's overall quality in the opinion of all presidents and chief academic officers in the South; student retention, which takes into account graduation rate and freshman retention rate; faculty resources, which analyzes class size, faculty salary, student-faculty ratio and proportion of faculty who are full-time; student selectivity, which takes into account student ACT or SAT scores, the proportion of freshmen who graduated in the top 10% and 25% of their classes and the ratio of students admitted to applicants; financial resources, which measures per-student spending by the university on features like instruction, research and student services; graduation rate performance, which shows the effect of the college's policies and programs on graduation rates; and alumni giving rate, which reflects the percentage of alumni who gave to their school.
State universities and national research universities are ranked in separate categories, and two-year community colleges are not included in the national survey. The popular ranking system, which began in 1980, has become the most closely watched college guide of its type in the market.
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