Campus News

Westminster College Named Top Tier, Top Value

August 17, 2007

U.S.News & World Report announced today that for the 13th consecutive year, Westminster College has been ranked as a top tier institution in its annually published guidebook which highlights America’s top colleges and universities. Westminster was also recognized as a great value on the list of “Great Schools, Great Prices” in this category.

However, like many other colleges and universities in the nation, Westminster officials have long been concerned about the US News methodology.

“While we are pleased with our ranking in US News, and we know they are important to prospective students and their parents, we also know there are imperfections in this system,” commented Westminster President Michael Bassis. “None of the factors that they rate say anything about what or how learning happens once the students are in college. Also, a big part of the ratings are peer assessments, which are done by senior administrators at other schools who may not have any real knowledge about what is happening on the multitude of campuses that they are asked to evaluate. This is the cause of much of the current debate about the US News rankings.”

“That’s why in addition to our top tier rankings in US News, we take satisfaction from knowing that Westminster is also highly regarded in other college guides, such as the Princeton Review’s “America’s Best Colleges” and the Newsweek/Kaplan guide, which factor in qualitative assessments, and input from current students,” Bassis continued. “We also participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which focuses on the level of academic challenge, active learning, and enriching educational experiences that occur on college campuses, including assessments of how these factors change from the freshmen level to the senior level. Westminster performs very well along these measures as well. This, we believe is a demonstration of our unique, student-centered approach to learning.”

Despite the imperfections and the school’s belief that a college experience cannot be adequately captured in a series of statistics, Westminster will continue to participate with these guidebooks, as they are a tool used by families looking at schools. “We encourage families to also consider many other factors, such as the learning environment, the majors offered, the quality and accessibility of the faculty, the campus community, and the outcomes achieved by their graduates, either in job placements or acceptances into graduate schools,” Bassis stated.

Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college distinguished by its unique environment for learning. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster prepares students for success with its emphasis on engaged learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. These are further enriched by the opportunities presented by Westminster’s unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake. For more information visit www.westminstercollege.edu .