MUW Ranked a Top University By U.S.News

COLUMBUS, Miss. – Mississippi University for Women recently received reinforcement that it is providing a quality education by being ranked a top university in U.S.News & World Report’s 2006 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.”

For the second year in a row, MUW is ranked tenth among Southern public master’s universities. It is the only Mississippi institution ranked in this category.

“We are very pleased to learn of the continuation of this honor since it stresses the quality education we are providing for our students,” said MUW President Claudia A. Limbert. “We strive to care as much about our students’ education as they do.”

In making the rankings, U.S.News measures peer assessment, retention rate, graduation rate, class size, student/faculty ratio, percentage of full-time faculty, SAT/ACT scores, freshmen in top of their high school classes, acceptance rate and alumni giving.

This ranking came as the university began classes this week with its female residence halls filled to capacity. Once registration is complete, MUW expects to see a third year of enrollment growth.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked MUW the 67th best value among the top 100 public colleges in America.

An ACT Survey of Student Opinions done last year was another positive sign that MUW is in tune with its students.

When asked about their satisfaction with the college environment, the five highest ranked items selected were: 1. Class size relative to the type of course; 2. Quality of instruction in your field; 3. Out-of-class availability of instructors; 4. Attitude of the faculty toward students; and 5. Course content in your major field.

Each of these had an average ranking of greater than 4 on a 1-5 scale and each of these was rated significantly higher than those seen at peer institutions.

Dr. Sam Gingerich, provost and vice president for academic affairs, added, “Further, since this survey also showed that these items were the ones that were most important to our students, it demonstrates that the MUW faculty provide the personalized learning experience that our students expect.”