U.S. News Ranks The University of Scranton No. 6 among ‘Best Regional Universities in North’

U.S. News has ranked The University of Scranton among the top 10 “Best Regional Universities in the North” for 23 consecutive years. U.S. News ranked Scranton No. 6 in its category in its 2017 “Best Colleges” guide.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked The University of Scranton among the top 10 “Best Regional Universities in the North” for 23 consecutive years, ranking Scranton No. 6 in the 2017 edition of the “Best Colleges” guidebook. Scranton was also ranked No. 22 as a “Best Value Regional University in the North,” in a ranking that compares academic quality of programs to cost of attendance. This is the fourth consecutive year U.S. News has recognized Scranton as a “Best Value” school.

U.S. News also ranked Scranton in several additional postings, including “Academic Programs to Look For,” a national listing of select colleges that excel in key areas that is posted online. Scranton was among just 27 colleges in the nation recognized for “Service Learning,” which is for-credit community volunteer projects for students embedded within a course. Scranton and The University of Pennsylvania were the only two colleges recognized in the Commonwealth for “Service Learning.”

In another web exclusive listing, U.S. News ranked Scranton No. 2 in its category for “2017 Best Colleges for Veterans,” which is a ranking of “top-ranked schools” that offer benefits to help “make pursuing a college education more affordable” for veterans. All colleges in this ranking are certified for the GI Bill, and participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program and meet other criteria.

U.S. News bases their rankings on a range of quality indicators that includes peer assessment of academic excellence (22.5 percent); graduation and freshman retention (22.5 percent); faculty resources (20 percent); student selectivity (12.5 percent); financial resources (10 percent); and alumni giving (5 percent); and graduation performance rates (7.5 percent), which compares a school’s actual graduation rates with predicted graduation rates based on characteristics of the incoming class. U.S. News categorizes colleges for their rankings based on the official Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classification of universities.

U.S. News also included Scranton in a national ranking of the top business schools (No. 184), with Scranton’s programs in entrepreneurship ranked No. 13, finance ranked No. 16 and accounting ranked No. 20 in the country.  In addition, Scranton ranked No. 131 in the “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs” where a doctorate is not offered, as well as in a listing of “top ranked” colleges where students do well based on “spirit and hard work.”

“We are pleased to be counted so consistently among the best colleges in the nation and are especially gratified to be nationally recognized for service, the supportive environment we provide for veterans and the value of the education we offer,” said University of Scranton President Kevin P. Quinn, S.J.

Each year, more than 2,800 University students participate in community engagement through service-learning courses, service programs, volunteer activities, downtown revitalization engagement events and student club projects.

In addition to U.S. News, The Princeton Review listed Scranton in its 2017 edition of “The Best 381 Colleges,” ranking Scranton among the nation’s “Best Science Labs” (No. 4), “Best Campus Food” (No. 11), “Best College Dorms” (No. 17) and “Students Most Engaged in Community Service” (No. 20). Scranton was also ranked No. 38 in the nation among master’s universities in a listing, published by Washington Monthly, that seeks to rate colleges based on their contribution to “social mobility, research and service.” Scranton is also among just 361 colleges in the nation earning Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The 2017 U.S. News “Best Colleges” rankings became available online Sept. 13.