Friday, September 25, 2009

Forbes ranks SMU on “America’s Best Colleges” list

By Becca Sandager
Copy Editor

Saint Mary’s University received the distinction of being ranked No. 260 out of 600 on Forbes’ 2009 “America’s Best Colleges” list, a ranking of the best public and private colleges and universities from students’ points of view, according to Tony Piscitiello, vice president for admission.

“(Forbes’ ranking) creates visibility and awareness, as well as attaches prestige to SMU,” said Piscitiello.

Forbes states that the rankings are based upon attributes that directly impact students: interesting and rewarding courses, job placement, graduating on time and debt incurred. They break down their measurements as follows:

• 25 percent is based upon 4 million student evaluations of courses and instructors, as recorded by the website RateMyProfessors.com.
• 25 percent is based upon post-graduate success, which is determined by “Who’s Who in America,” and by the average salaries of graduates reported by Payscale.com.
• 20 percent is based upon the estimated average student debt after four years.
• 16 percent is based upon the likelihood of graduation in four years.
• 13 percent is based upon the number of students or faculty who have won competitive awards like Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes.

“Students are looking for something to grab onto when trying to answer the question, ‘What is a good college for me?’” said Piscitiello. “Forbes’ ranking gives the endorsement of what a good product SMU is.”

Along with Forbes’ ranking, SMU holds other distinctions. Princeton Review ranked SMU as one of the 158 “Best Midwestern Colleges.” U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” ranked SMU in its “Best National Universities” survey. SMU has also routinely garnered top results from the National Survey of Student Engagement, which says SMU provides “a distinctive and superior college experience compared with other colleges nationally and even with other small, liberal arts colleges in the Midwest.”

For more information on distinctions SMU has received, go to www.smumn.edu/distinction.aspx.

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