RIPON, Wis. – Ripon College ranks among the top three colleges and universities in Wisconsin and 109th in the nation, according to a new “America’s Best Colleges” ranking by Forbes magazine. The nascent rankings’ unique methodology places Ripon well ahead of larger and better-known institutions such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UCLA, Cornell and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, just to name a few.
The Forbes rankings offer yet another way for parents and prospective students to evaluate institutions, using five components:
- Listing of Alumni in the 2008 Who's Who in America (25 percent)
- Student Evaluations of Professors from Ratemyprofessors.com (25 percent)
- Four- Year Graduation Rates (16 2/3 percent)
- Enrollment-adjusted numbers of students and faculty receiving nationally competitive awards (16 2/3 percent)
- Average four-year accumulated student debt of those borrowing money (16 2/3 percent)
“The methodologies change but Ripon consistently performs well, both in terms of the overall student experience and the degree to which our graduates lead successful and rewarding lives,” said Steve Schuetz, vice president and director of Admissions. “More and more rankings lists are moving away from purely objective metrics and focusing on the actual experience, which is exactly how we represent ourselves to students and parents.”
Forbes editors said, “... we believe that these rankings reflect, in a very real way, the quality and cost of an undergraduate education at a wide range of American colleges and universities. And when families have to make a decision with a six-figure price tag and lifelong impact, we think they deserve all the information they can get.”
Ripon was recently named to The Princeton Review’s 2009 “Best 368 Colleges” list and the 2009 “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” list by U.S. News and World Report.
About Ripon College
Ripon College, founded in 1851, prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Ripon’s liberal arts curriculum and residential campus create an intimate learning community in which students experience a richly personalized education. Ripon has consistently been recognized as a “best value” and “Best 368 College” by The Princeton Review, a “Best Buy in College Education” by Barron’s, a “Best Liberal-Arts College” by Washington Monthly, and is listed among the 160 best schools in the nation by Colleges of Distinction. For more information about Ripon College, visit www.ripon.edu. |
