COTTEY COLLEGE HIGHLY RANKED AGAIN

COTTEY COLLEGE HIGHLY RANKED BY THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT FOR THE MIDWEST REGION

Cottey College was again confirmed as one of the top colleges in the Midwest region. The Chronicle of Higher Education listed Cottey as the #1 private college in the U.S. for student-tenured professor ratio, and today U.S. News & World Report listed Cottey as the #4 Best College in the Midwest Region out of 76 colleges ranked from 12 states. This is the sixth consecutive year the College has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report and the third consecutive year Cottey has been ranked in the top 5. Cottey is the only women’s college listed in the Midwest region.

Cottey was ranked in four additional categories in the Midwest region from U.S. News & World Report. Cottey is ranked #5 among Best Undergraduate Teaching, #4 in Most International Students, #14 in Social Mobility, and #19 in Best Value Colleges.

“We are again pleased and honored to be recognized by the U.S. News & World Report as a top college in the Midwest for the sixth consecutive year, and as a top five institution for the last three years,” said Jann Weitzel, Ph.D., president of Cottey College. “Cottey is known for the outstanding education it offers to students. We find it especially noteworthy that Cottey is listed as the #5 college in the region for Best Undergraduate Teaching. It underscores the value of our #1 ranking from The Chronicle of Higher Education as having the best student-to-tenured-professor ratio of any private college in the United States, not just in our region.”

Rankings by respected organizations such as U.S. News & World Report and The Chronicle of Higher Education can provide college-bound students and their parents with valuable information to compare merits of different education programs. According to their website, U.S. News & World Report uses 50 different types of numerical rankings and lists to help students narrow their college search.

Colleges ranked in the Best Regional College category focus almost entirely on the undergraduate experience and offer a broad range of programs in the liberal arts in fields such as business, education, the sciences and humanities. Regional colleges include both public and private institutions.

For the Best Undergraduate Teaching category, college presidents, provosts, and admissions deans in the first half of 2021 nominated up to 15 schools within their U.S. News ranking categories for which they believed faculty and administrators were committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner. At least seven nominations were needed for a school to be ranked and listed.

In the category of Most International Students, Cottey was listed with an international student population of 10 percent. The U.S. News website noted that in a global culture, befriending and learning to collaborate with students from other countries can be rewarding personally and professionally.

Rankings in the Best Value College category are based on a combination of a college’s academic quality based on its Best Colleges ranking relative to the average discount price paid by full time undergraduates after receiving need-based grants, the percentage of all full-time undergraduates receiving need-based financial aid, the average discount from the school’s total sticker price for full-time undergraduates, and the percentage of 2020-2021 who also received a grant or scholarship.

The Social Mobility ranking measures the extent schools enrolled and graduated students who received federal Pell Grants (those typically coming from households whose family income rates are less than $50,000 annually, although most Pell Grant money goes to students with a total family income below $20,000).

“Rankings assist students and their parents/guardians in differentiating among colleges by providing information about institutional quality,” said Dr. Weitzel. “Our institution’s commitment to student success is illustrated by these measurements that include small class sizes, strong retention and graduation rates, a low student to faculty ratio, and the percentage of full-time, terminally-qualified faculty leading students in the classroom. These critical markers, and others, are part of students’ decision processes when choosing the college that will best meet their academic needs as they plan toward their future.”

The rankings and the methodology are available online at usnews.com/best-colleges.

Among the criteria on which U.S. News & World Report bases its rankings are the following: retention, assessment by peers and counselors, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance, and alumni giving rate.

“I am extremely proud of our College, our talented students, and our outstanding faculty and staff members,” said Dr. Weitzel. “These rankings are a testament to the dedication and hard work of our faculty and staff, who guide our students as they create their incredible futures.”