Muhlenberg Improves Its U.S. News Ranking Among National Liberal Arts Colleges
The College was ranked #70 out of 204 liberal arts colleges nationally, up from #76 last year. Changes in the methodology that increased the consideration of outcomes were partly responsible for the bump.Monday, September 18, 2023 01:25 PM
Photo by Kristi MorrisThe U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, released today, have Muhlenberg ranked #70 out of 204 liberal arts colleges nationally, a six-spot improvement from last year. The College improved upon its Graduation Rate, Pell Graduation Rate and Faculty Resource scores. Read President Kathleen Harring's take on the rankings here.
Because so many institutions are tied on the list, there are only 26 ranking spots above Muhlenberg’s. Muhlenberg’s ranking puts it at #9 among Pennsylvania’s 20 liberal arts institutions, an especially strong competitive set.
The U.S. News methodology has historically focused on inputs (such as alumni giving rate, amount spent per student and peer ratings from leaders in education) rather than results and return on investment, an approach that has tended to reinforce the dominance of richly endowed colleges and universities. While the methodology changed this year — it eliminated the alumni giving rate, for example, and gave less weight to spend per student — it continued to factor peer ratings at 20 percent of the total score. Find the College’s complete U.S. News rankings here.
“Muhlenberg excels when measured by its impact on students’ lives,” says Harring. “This year’s rankings from a variety of sources reflect that.”
The change in the U.S. News methodology to more strongly weight outcomes is one reason for Muhlenberg’s improved ranking. Muhlenberg has also recently appeared on outcome-driven best-college lists from The Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly.
