Goshen College stacks up well in 2007 ‘U.S.News & World Report’ rankings

GOSHEN, Ind. — In the annually anticipated college ranking release, the 2007 U.S.News & World Report “America’s Best Colleges,” Goshen College again placed high in the third tier of the category of Best Liberal Arts Colleges for the sixth straight year. Goshen was given special recognition for its study abroad program, international student body, economic diversity, campus diversity, small class sizes and for being an “A+ option for B students” college.

Goshen College was listed among 62 colleges and universities chosen with outstanding study abroad programs for its 37-year-old Study-Service Term program. Programs included on the study abroad list involved substantial academic work for credit – a year, a semester or an intensive experience equal to a course – and considerable interaction between the student and the culture. Goshen was one of the first schools in the United States to include international education as part of its graduation requirements in 1968.

Among similar liberal arts colleges, Goshen was ranked 13th for most international students, with 8 percent; on the list of the top schools for economic diversity, with 24 percent of undergraduates receiving federal Pell Grants for low-income students; on the list of the top schools for campus diversity, with Hispanic students comprising the largest minority group representing 5 percent of the student body; and on the list of schools with the highest proportion of classes under 20, at 65 percent.

For the first time, Goshen College was named one of 17 Liberal Arts Colleges that are “A+ options for B students” – quality colleges that are respectably ranked and that accept a significant number of students without straight A’s.

Within its tier of 52 colleges and universities, Goshen placed near the top with its average alumni giving rate of 33 percent; with 30 percent of freshmen in the top 10 percent of their high school class in 2004; and for students scoring 1020-1310 at the 25th and 75th percentiles SAT test.

The “Liberal Arts Colleges” category, in which Goshen College is ranked, is defined by the Carnegie Commission as schools emphasizing undergraduate education and awarding at least 50 percent of its degrees in the liberal arts disciplines. Of the 215 schools in this category, most are private institutions. The college rankings are based on 15 indicators: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources and class sizes, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

Many of the rankings and some articles from the “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook appear in the Aug. 28, 2006, weekly issue of U.S.News & World Report that will reach newsstands Aug. 21. All 2007 rankings are available on the magazine’s Web site at www.usnews.com.

Editors: For more information about this release, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.