Marlboro College Ranked Among Best National Liberal Arts Colleges

MARLBORO, Vt., Sept. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Marlboro College has earned a spot on this year's U.S. News and World Report list of the Best National Liberal Arts Schools. It tied with six other schools for the #136 spot, and will be included in the new "Best Colleges 2016" guidebook, available later in September.

"Marlboro offers an academically rich setting for liberal arts education, where students are prepared for thoughtful, purposeful and effective engagement in the world," said Kevin Quigley, Marlboro College president. "Our ranking is yet another confirmation of the value of a Marlboro education, and the advantages of our intentionally small college."

In 2007, several institutions, including Marlboro, voluntarily pulled out of the rankings amid debate over methodologies that seemed to unfairly disadvantage smaller colleges. While its student population is between 200 and 300, Marlboro was encouraged by recent changes to the methodology and opted to participate again.

U.S. News rankings are based on measures of quality like assessments of excellence by peer colleges and high school guidance counselors. They also include weighted measures of graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and graduation rates.

"Marlboro College is pleased to participate in the U.S. News rankings again this year, as we consider this a valuable resource for prospective students," said President Quigley. "It's also important to point out many of Marlboro's key characteristics that aren't measured by rankings, such as self-directed learning, interdisciplinary approaches, close collegial relationships with faculty and the sense of community."

Marlboro College

With locations in the foothills of Vermont's Green Mountains and downtown Brattleboro, Marlboro College provides independent thinkers with exceptional opportunities to broaden their intellectual horizons, benefit from a small and close-knit learning community, create a strong framework for personal and career fulfillment and make a positive difference in the world. At our undergraduate campus in the town of Marlboro and our Center for Graduate and Professional Studies in Brattleboro, students engage in deep exploration of their interests—and discover new avenues for using their skills to benefit themselves and others—in an atmosphere that emphasizes critical and creative thinking, independence, social justice, sustainability and community.

SOURCE Marlboro College