NWC ranked seventh by U.S. News

Northwestern College is ranked in a tie for seventh among 97 Midwestern regional colleges in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 Best Colleges guidebook. This is the fifth year in a row for Northwestern to be in the top 10 of its category.

The rankings, which include more than 1,300 schools nationwide, are available at www.usnews.com/colleges. The guidebook will be on newsstands Sept. 20.

“This high ranking is another great affirmation of the academic excellence Northwestern College has come to be known for, due to the quality of our faculty and programs,” says Greg Christy, Northwestern’s president. “It’s always nice to be recognized for high-quality academics, especially by one’s peers.”

The rankings are based on key measures of quality such as academic reputation; retention (freshman retention and graduation rate); faculty resources (including class size, the percentage of faculty with the top academic degree, student-faculty ratio and compensation); student selectivity; financial resources; and alumni giving.

Northwestern, with two members of its faculty having been honored as Iowa Professor of the Year and a third-place national ranking by Washington Monthly, scored high in the U.S. News peer assessment. The college tied for sixth in that ranking of academic reputation.

Northwestern was among 15 Midwestern regional colleges named to the “A-Plus Schools for B Students” list in the guidebook, described by U.S. News as places where non-superstars can thrive. The A-Plus schools list includes eight colleges that were rated in the top 10 overall.