Penn State Behrend Again Ranks Among
Best
Universities
in Annual U.S.News & World Report Survey
|
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, again ranks among the best regional universities in the North, according to U.S.News & World Report in its annual “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook. Penn State Behrend is ranked fifteenth among the sixty-six public universities in the eleven-state region. “We pride ourselves on the quality of our teaching and our high interaction between students and faculty,” said Jack Burke, chancellor of Penn State Behrend. “This year’s ranking continues to show that more and more people are discovering the excellence that Behrend has to offer.” |
Among all public colleges and universities in Pennsylvania (in all U.S. News categories), Penn State Behrend has the lowest student-to-faculty ratio (15:1). Among other Pennsylvania colleges in the same U.S. News category as Penn State Behrend, Behrend is tied for first in SAT scores among the freshman class, second for graduation rate, and second in first-year retention rate, according to the published data.
Penn State Behrend is ranked in the “Best Universities–Master’s” category. The 572 universities nationwide in this category are ranked within four geographic areas. In determining each school’s rank, U.S. News uses six categories of data: academic reputation, graduation and retention rate, faculty resources, selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving. The formula weighs the academic reputation, faculty resources, and graduation and retention rates heaviest.
“At Penn State Behrend, we strive to achieve the highest academic standards,” said David Christiansen, associate dean for undergraduate studies and academic administration. “It is certainly pleasant to be ranked among the best, but rankings are only one information source available to students. I encourage students to learn more about each college they are interested in by evaluating the relative strengths and weaknesses of each one. The best way to do this is by visiting the college.”
In the national universities category, Penn State University Park ranked fourteenth among 162 public universities. In the overall category, Penn State University Park ranked forty-eighth out of 248.
Penn State Behrend is home to 3,700 students who benefit from the opportunities and prestige of a national university set in the atmosphere of a student-centered college. Penn State Behrend offers thirty-one baccalaureate majors, five associate degree programs, and two graduate programs, along with twenty-one NCAA varsity teams. Penn State Behrend has been named a “best value for your tuition dollar” by a nation-wide survey of high school counselors, and was named one of the country's top ten hot and trendy colleges by Newsweek in 2001.