August 22, 2008
Rollins College ranks number one among 121 Southern master's-level universities in the annual rankings of "America's Best Colleges," released by U.S. News & World Report. This is the fourth consecutive year that Rollins has garnered the top spot in this category.
Rollins continues to attract the best and the brightest students from around the nation as evidenced by a jump from 65 percent to 75 percent in the number of entering students graduating in the top 25 percentile of their high school class. From small classes to great faculty, the rankings may seem to speak for themselves. But they don't really tell the whole story of what sets Rollins apart from its closest competitors ... and some of the most renowned universities in the country.
At 67 percent, Rollins College has a higher percentage of courses with an enrollment less than 20 of any school ranked among the top 10 in the South. Rollins also has a higher percentage of courses with an enrollment of less than 20 than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (64%), Cornell University (60%), the University of Notre Dame (56%), Dartmouth College (64%) and Johns Hopkins University (65%).
At 93 percent, Rollins has a higher percentage of full-time faculty than Yale University (87%), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (90%), the University of Pennsylvania (86%), Columbia University (91%) and the University of Chicago (87%).
Rollins was also ranked in the top three in the South in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category for offering the best value, which relates academic quality with the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of financial aid.
The “best college” rankings are based on surveys of college officials, combined with data provided by institutions, including student selectivity, faculty resources, financial resources, graduation rates and alumni satisfaction.
The weekly edition of U.S. News & World Report containing the rankings and the newsstand book, “America’s Best Colleges,” will be on newsstands Monday, August 25.
School |
Overall Score |
% Classes Fewer than 20 |
Student/Faculty
Ratio |
Full-time Faculty |
1. Rollins College |
100 |
67% |
10/1 |
93% |
2. Elon University |
94 |
50% |
14/1 |
89% |
3. Stetson University |
91 |
59% |
11/1 |
85% |
4. James Madison University |
88 |
31% |
16/1 |
87% |
5. The Citadel |
83 |
44% |
15/1 |
86% |
5. Loyola Univ. New
Orleans |
83 |
54% |
11/1 |
84% |
School |
Overall Score |
% Classes with 50 or more |
Full time Faculty |
Rollins College |
100 |
0.2% |
93% |
Harvard University |
100 |
9% |
93% |
Yale University |
98 |
8% |
87% |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
94 |
12% |
90% |
University of Pennsylvania |
93 |
7% |
86% |
