By Bryan Marshall
Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University are among 11 Kentucky higher education institutions recognized in Forbes.com’s inaugural America’s Best Colleges.
In conjunction with Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), Forbes.com ranked 569 undergraduate institutions based on the quality of the education they provide and how much their students achieve.
Berea College was ranked number 204 while EKU came in at number 428.
Centre College was the highest-ranked Kentucky institution at number 13, followed by Bellarmine University (83), Transylvania University (148), Berea (204), Georgetown College (207), Asbury College (213), Murray State University (322), University of Louisville (400), EKU (428), University of Kentucky (468) and Western Kentucky University (476).
The ranking was the latest in a line of recent recognition for Berea College, which in the past few weeks has been highlighted in the New York Times and Fox News for its free tuition.
“It is a really great education, and you meet people from all over the world,” senior Akilah Hughes said on the Web site for Forbes, a popular business magazine. “The experience you get is unmatched and exceptional, especially considering the free tuition.”
“A student who is serious about his or her education can come to Berea with little more than what they can carry and graduate from one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges debt free,” Joe Bagnoli, associate provost for enrollment management at Berea College, said on the site.
In the rankings, EKU is sandwiched between Gonzaga University and the University of Connecticut.
The institution was third among Kentucky’s public universities, trailing only Murray State University and the University of Louisville. Because there are more than 4,000 college campuses nationwide, the ranking essentially places Eastern among the top 10 percent of colleges and universities.
“We are understandably excited and proud about this national distinction as it recognizes the high quality of our faculty and academic instruction, as well as our ceaseless commitment to students and their lifelong success,” EKU President Doug Whitlock said.
In the 2008 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report, EKU was ranked in the top tier of Southern Master’s Universities.
EKU’s graduate program in occupational therapy also ranked No. 24 nationally in that magazine’s recent “America’s Best Graduate Schools 2009” edition.
“EKU finds a perfect balance between a large university and a small college feel,” EKU Student Government Association president and senior Alex Combs said on the Forbes’ Web site. “You are not a number, and all the opportunities are there to get involved and make a difference during your time here. You really feel a part of the family with administrators and faculty, and it’s something that follows throughout your life.”
The CCAP ranked only the top 15 percent or so of all undergraduate institutions.
“CCAP’s methodology attempted to put itself in a student’s shoes,” according to the Forbes’ Web site. “How good will my professors be? Will the school help me achieve notable career success? If I have to borrow to pay for college, how deeply will I go into debt? What are the chances I will graduate in four years? Are students and faculty recognized nationally, or even globally?”
To answer those questions, the staff at CCAP gathered data from a variety of sources.
They based 25 percent of the rankings on 7 million student evaluations of courses and instructors, as recorded on the Web site RateMyProfessors.com.
Another 25 percent depended on how many of the school’s alumni, adjusted for enrollment, are listed among the notable people in Who’s Who in America.
The other half of the ranking is based equally on three factors: the average amount of student debt at graduation held by those who borrowed; the percentage of students graduating in four years; and the number of students or faculty, adjusted for enrollment, who have won nationally competitive awards such as Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes.
One goal of the rankings is to provide an alternative to the annual list released by the U.S. News & World Report.
Princeton University, followed closely by the California Institute of Technology, Harvard, Swarthmore and Williams, topped the inaugural list.
The data also showed that students strongly prefer smaller schools to big ones.
The median undergraduate enrollment in the top 50 ranked schools is just 2,285, and only one of the top 50 (the University of Virginia) has more than 10,000 undergraduate students.
Despite where an institution lands in the rankings, Forbes said appearing on the list at all indicates the school meets a certain level of quality.
“We believe that these rankings reflect, in a very real way, the quality and cost of an undergraduate education at a wide range of American colleges and universities,” according to the Forbes’ Web site. “And when families have to make a decision with a six-figure price tag and lifelong impact, we think they deserve all the information they can get.”
To view the complete rankings, go to www.forbes.com.
Bryan Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@richmondregister.com or 624-6691.
