Southwest Minnesota State Tops U.S. News & World Report Rankings

Marshall, Minn. - For the seventh straight year, Southwest Minnesota State University has been ranked at the top of its class by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Southwest Minnesota State is ranked first in the Best Public Comprehensive Colleges - Bachelor's Division in the Midwest region. There are 324 comprehensive colleges, ranked within four regions: north, south, midwest and west. This division is comprised of institutions which focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs in the liberal arts and in professional fields.

"We're delighted to be recognized like this for the seventh straight year," said Southwest Minnesota State University President David Danahar.  "This is strong external confirmation of the quality of our institution, and continuing recognition of the accomplishments of the faculty, staff, students and alumni."

"This sets the tone for a strong year at SMSU," said Raymond Lou, provost and vice president of academic affairs. "It underscores our commitment to excellence in undergraduate education."

Criteria used for the rankings include: peer assessment, average freshman retention rate, average graduation rate, percent of classes under 20, percent of classes of 50 or more, student-faculty ratio, percent of faculty who are full-time, SAT/ACT scores in the 25th to 75th percentile; freshmen in the top 25 percent of their class; acceptance rate, and average alumni giving rate.

The U.S. News & World Report rankings list the top four public comprehensive colleges in each region. Rounding out the top four institutions in the Midwest are Valley City State (N.D.), the University of Minnesota-Crookston, and Dakota State University (S.D.). The states that comprise the Midwest region include Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan and Nebraska.