Friday, August 20, 1999
Local colleges among top rated
BY TOM McCANN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tristate schools were at the head of the class again this year in U.S. News and World Report's annual college survey.
Xavier University, Miami University and the University of Dayton all improved their ranking from last year in the magazine's 13th “America's Best Colleges” issue, on newsstands Monday.
Dayton overtook Valparaiso (Ind.) University as the second-best Midwestern regional university. Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., was first.
In the same category, Xavier moved up one spot to tie for seventh with Butler University in Indianapolis. For the past two years, Xavier lagged behind Butler in eighth place.
U.S. News, in surveying 1,400 colleges, factored academic reputation, retention of students, admissions selectivity, faculty, financial resources, alumni giving and graduation rates. “The goal ... at Xavier is to provide a total educational experience that will prepare our students,” said the Rev. James Hoff, S.J., Xavier president. “The recognition from U.S. News and World Report is another indication that we are meeting our goal.”
Xavier officials attributed their school's ranking to the qual ity of students in recent years. The average grade point average for incoming freshmen this fall is 3.46, up from 3.25 three years ago. Xavier also had the top freshman retention rate of all 123 Midwestern colleges and universities.
The College of Mount St. Joseph kept last year's ranking of 18. The Delhi Township school last year had the highest freshman graduation rate — freshman who enroll and graduate from that school — of any Midwestern regional college.
Miami moved up 14 spots, to No. 22, among the nation's best public universities. Ohio State University dropped, however, to 23 from 31, of the 147 schools in the category.
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