NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Forty-two members of the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities are listed among America's best colleges in annual rankings compiled by U.S. News & World Report magazine.
All told, 1,900 colleges and universities are ranked in the magazine's 2008 report. Twenty-six IABCU schools are ranked individually within their peer categories. Last year, an all-time high 43 Baptist schools made the list.
The magazine's rankings are based on data provided by the institutions and by a survey of colleagues. Colleges and universities were then grouped into four major categories following a system devised by the Carnegie Fund for the Advancement of Teaching. Two larger groups were further according to geographical regions.
The National Universities category includes 262 private and public universities with a wide range of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degree offerings. Baylor University, in Waco, Texas, and Samford University, in Birmingham, Ala., are in that group. Samford was re-classified this year from its former classification in Master's-South.
Most of the Baptist institutions listed are in the Baccalaureate-South division, a category of southern colleges offering primarily undergraduate liberal-arts programs and with fewer than 50 percent of students receiving degrees in traditional liberal-arts disciplines. Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., is ranked No. 1 among Baccalaureate Colleges-South.
In addition to Ouachita Baptist, Campbellsville University, Shorter College, University of the Cumberlands, Blue Mountain College, Mars Hill College, Anderson University, Louisiana College, Bluefield College, Virginia Intermont College, Williams Baptist College, Brewton-Parker College and Chowan University made the Baccalaureate Colleges-South list.
In the Baccalaureate-West division, Oklahoma Baptist, East Texas Baptist and Howard Payne universities are listed. Judson College of Illinois and Hannibal-LaGrange College are listed among the Baccalaureate-Midwest institutions.
Elsewhere, the master's degree category includes colleges and universities granting primarily undergraduate and master's degrees but few, if any, doctoral degrees. Five hundred and seventy-four institutions fit that description, and they are further identified along geographical lines.
The Master's-South category ranks Mercer University, Belmont University, Union University, Mississippi College, Campbell University, Gardner-Webb University, the University of Mobile, Charleston Southern, Palm Beach Atlantic and William Carey universities.
The Master's-Midwest group includes Missouri Baptist and Southwest Baptist universities. Cedarville University of Cedarville, Ohio, which is an Ohio Southern Baptist-approved school, ranked third in the Midwest region, up from last year's ranking of 14. The Master's-West category includes Hardin-Simmons, California Baptist, and Houston Baptist universities, as well as the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Dallas Baptist and Wayland Baptist universities.
Liberal-arts colleges emphasizing undergraduate education and granting at least 50 percent of degrees in arts and sciences included Carson-Newman and Georgetown Colleges, along with Judson College of Alabama and North Greenville University.
Thomas Corts, executive director of the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities, said Baptists should “take pride” in their long-term investment of “nurturing strong institutions.”
“While it is only one estimate of institutional standing, the continued excellent representation of Baptist colleges and universities in the U.S. News & World Report rankings confirms that Baptist colleges are competitive and well-considered in the world of higher education,” he said.
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— Tim Fields is the director of communications for the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities.