College Choice Releases First Annual Ranking of Regional Universities in the South
Unique regional rankings based exclusively on what nationwide survey of college freshmen said was most important to their college decision
RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- College Choice (http://www.collegechoice.net) has published their first annual ranking of regional universities in the south (http://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/regional-universities-south/). These are southern universities that offer a full range of undergraduate programs, and some master's programs, but relatively few doctoral programs.
Like other ranking in the College Choice Rankings series, this ranking is based exclusively on factors actual college students said were most important to their college decision. According to the most recent annual CIRP Freshmen Survey by the Higher Education Research Institute, these factors include academic reputation, financial aid offerings, overall cost, and success of graduates in the post-college job market.
"As with our rankings of national liberal arts college and national research universities, when ranking regional universities it made sense to us to consider which factors the largest survey of actual college freshmen said was most important to them when they chose their school," said Jeremy Alder, Managing Editor of College Choice. "Every college ranking involves decisions about what elements of a college to consider. You can't measure or include everything, so why not go with what real students said they valued most in making their own college decision?"
Rollins College, located in Winter Park, Florida, is at the top of the list. Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina came in second and third respectively.
Other universities making the list include (alphabetically ordered):
Appalachian State University
Arkansas State University
Bellarmine University
Belmont University
Brenau University
Campbell University
Christian Brothers University
Christopher Newport University
College of Charleston
Eastern Kentucky University
Elon University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Gardner-Webb University
Georgia College & State University
Harding University
Jacksonville University
James Madison University
King University
Lipscomb University
Longwood University
Loyola University New Orleans
Lynchburg College
Marshall University
Marymount University
Mississippi College
Mississippi University for Women
Murray State University
Radford University
Samford University
Southern Polytechnic State University
St. Leo University
Stetson University
Tennessee Technological University
Thomas More College
Union University
University of Mary Washington
University of Montevallo
University of North Carolina Wilmington
University of North Florida
University of Tampa
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
University of Tennessee at Martin
Western Carolina University
Western Kentucky University
Wingate University
Winston-Salem State University
Winthrop University
The ranking takes into account academic reputation, average amount of scholarship and grant aid per student, overall net cost, and the average starting salary for graduates. Each factor was weighted equally. Data was derived from several publicly available sources, including the National Center for Education Statistics, Payscale.com, and U.S. News & World Report.
College Choice is an independent online publication dedicated to helping students and their families find the right college. The site publishes rankings and reviews that make finding the best colleges for different interests easier and more fun, as well as resources to help students get into, pay for, and thrive at the college of their choice.
Contact:
Jeremy Alder
Managing Editor
(919) 745-8594
SOURCE CollegeChoice.Net
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