Georgia's Best Colleges For 2018: U.S. News & World Report

The new school year is in full swing, and as high school seniors plan the next big step in their lives, many have turned their attention to finding colleges that best suit their educational and career ambitions. College rankings may play a role in the decision-making process, and in its 2018 rankings, U.S. News & World Report has named Princeton as the best university in the nation for the seventh year in a row.

Princeton is trailed by Harvard University in second and the University of Chicago, which is the third best national university, according to U.S. News.

In Georgia, three schools were ranked among the top 100 national universities, and three overall made the list. Emory University in Atlanta was ranked No. 21, Georgia Institute of Technology ranked No. 34 and the University of Georgia in Athens was No 54. In addition, Mercer University in Macon was ranked No. 133,

There were several other rankings that U.S. News released Sept. 12, including best liberal arts colleges, best public liberal arts colleges and best public universities.

Public schools—namely the California schools and U.S. military academies—made a strong showing in the 2018 rankings. The University of California in Los Angeles tied with the University of California in Berkeley for number one public school among national universities, and the United States Military Academy at West Point ranked as the top public school among national liberal arts colleges.

Public liberal arts college had several Georgia schools, with two high-profile colleges tying in the rankings. On the U.S. News rankings of best public liberal arts colleges in the country for 2018, Agnes Scott College and Spelman College tied for the No. 61 ranking, while Wesleyan College placed at No. 141, Morehouse College was No. 160, and Covenant College was No. 168. Only seven colleges made the best public liberal arts colleges list overall.

The best national liberal arts college was Williams College in Massachusetts—its 15th year in the top spot—followed in second place by another Massachusetts school, Amherst College.

Top 5 national universities in the country:
Princeton University (1)
Harvard University (2)
University of Chicago (3)
Yale University (3)
Columbia University (5)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (5)
Stanford University (5)

Georgia's top universities for 2018 include:

• Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, No. 10 in Top Public Schools, No. 31 in Regional Universities South
• University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, No. 22 in Top Public Schools (tie), No. 61 in Regional Universities South (tie)
• Albany State University, No. 45 in Top Public Schools (tie), No. 106 in Regional Universities South (tie)
• Columbus State University, No. 45 in Top Public Schools (tie), No. 106 in Regional Universities South (tie)

In its rankings, U.S. News also took a look at student debt, and it turns out that 70 percent of students who graduate from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., graduate with debt — the average amount of debt being $46,779 — the highest among national universities.

For national liberal arts colleges, that number is highest among graduates of St. John’s University in Minnesota, where 66 percent of students graduate with debt with an average amount of debt of $40,272. Students from Princeton, it turns out, graduate with the least amount of debt among national universities, as do students of Berea College in Kentucky when it comes to national liberal arts colleges.

U.S. News relies on various factors in determining the rankings, with retention, graduate rate performance and graduation rate accounting for 30 percent of the rankings.

“Graduation rate performance measures how well schools are graduating their students based on our predictions, which consider spending, test scores and the proportion of students receiving Pell Grants,” U.S. News explains.

Faculty resources account for 20 percent of the rankings — things like class size, student-to-faculty ratio — and financial resources — average spending on things that go directly toward educating undergraduates — accounts for 10 percent of the rankings. The rest of the rankings are based on expert opinion, student excellence and alumni giving.

U.S. News notes that the top national and top national liberal arts universities have significantly higher graduation and freshman retention rates than other schools. That’s a six-year graduation rate of 96 percent for the top 10 national universities and 92.5 percent for top 10 national liberal arts colleges, whereas that same figure for all numerically ranked national universities is 71.7 percent and 75.7 percent for national liberal arts colleges. Similarly, the freshman retention rate for top 10 national universities is 98.3 percent and 96.5 percent for top 10 national liberal arts colleges, compared to 87.2 percent for all numerically ranked national universities and 85.7 percent for all numerically ranked national liberal arts colleges, respectively.

What do you think of the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

By Feroze Dhanoa and Deb Belt.
Patch file photo