Cleveland, TN–Lee University saw its ranking rise once again this year in the popular U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) “Best Colleges 2019” edition. The Church of God’s oldest educational institution was also recently ranked sixth in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ranking of “Colleges Where Students Feel Most Engaged.”
This year Lee claimed its spot in the top 50 “Best Regional Universities” in USN&WR. Lee was ranked at #47 out of 165 Southern universities, which included masters-level universities, both public and private.
The schools are ranked by graduation rate, peer-assessment, freshman retention rate, student-faculty ratio, and acceptance rate, among several other factors.
Lee was also listed among the prestigious category called “A+ Schools for B Students,” which lists several dozen top-tier colleges and universities alphabetically by regions. This ranking included only 29 schools from the South. Lee appeared along with schools such as Appalachian State University, Berry College, and Samford University.
This ranking displays universities’ average ACT scores, average high school GPA of incoming freshman, and the percentage of incoming freshman who graduated in the top 25 percent of their class.
The university also secured a spot among 30 schools in the “Best Value” category. Lee ranked #24, three spots above the 2018 rank of #27 in the same category.
USN&WR has been ranking colleges for 34 years and continues to be a closely watched college ranking. The magazine reviewed over 1,000 colleges and universities nationwide for the 2019 annual issue. It ranked Princeton as America’s best national university, followed by Harvard and Columbia University.
In the second recognition, the WSJ measured schools through roughly 189,000 surveys over the past two years on their ability to challenge and inspire students inside and outside the classroom, as well as on the range of classes offered by the schools. The WSJ notes that “one crucial aspect of a successful college experience is how students learn.”
According to the WSJ, students who are more engaged sharpen their critical thinking skills, better their teamwork abilities, and connect academic concepts to real-world understanding.
The WSJ article notes that eight of the top 11 schools have religious affiliations, and these institutions tend to include holistic education of the entire student in their mission statements.
(Source: Lee University)