Lee University Earns Prestigious Ranking
Lee University’s status in the higher education community got a significant upgrade to a higher category in the prestigious college rankings of U.S. News & World Report which were announced nationwide Monday.
In the 2008 rankings, Lee is for the first time classified in the “Masters University” category, where it earned a spot on the list of “Top Schools” in the South. The USNWR says the category of “Masters Universities” includes schools which “provide a full range of undergraduate and master’s programs, but offer few, if any, doctoral programs.” The magazine reviewed 574 universities nationwide in this classification before choosing those which earned its “Top Schools” ranking in 2008.
The new classification puts Lee in a category which includes other nearby universities such as UT-Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee State University. In previous years, Lee had been classified among “Baccalaureate Colleges”, where it had also been awarded a top-tier ranking for the past four years. The USNWR explained in its August 20 edition that it puts institutions in higher categories after they are upgraded by the Carnegie Classification system, which Lee achieved last year.
The USNews&World Report rankings are a closely followed barometer of institutional status. “Every college and university president understands that these rankings are quite imperfect,” said Lee president Dr. Paul Conn, “but they have become very powerful in shaping the public perception of our schools, so we all pay close attention.”
Conn said he is “very pleased and gratified” by Lee’s new status. He described the move up from college to university status as a “major shift” in the public recognition of Lee’s growing size and the diversity of its academic programs, as well as the number of graduate students and degrees. The local institution officially became Lee University in 1997, when it reorganized its academic structure after fifty years of operation as Lee College.
