Several college rankings have been released in the past month; Sewanee scores well on factors from graduation rates to voter engagement to campus beauty.
The U.S. News and World Report's 2020 Best Colleges report was released Sept. 9, 2019. In this list, Sewanee ranked #43 among the nation’s 223 top national liberal arts colleges; other institutional categories include national universities, regional universities, and regional colleges.
Sewanee also appears on the separate U.S. News lists of “Most Innovative Schools,” “Best Undergraduate Teaching,” and “Best Value Schools.”
Among the other ratings that have been released recently, it is worth noting that Sewanee is once again in the Forbes Grateful Graduates Index (#52 out of the top 200 schools). “Which colleges provide the best return on investment? The ones with the happiest and most successful alumni, of course,” says Forbes.
One of the “Best 385 Colleges” listed by Princeton Review, the University was highlighted as #8 in the most beautiful campus category and #19 for best career services. And once again, it was named a “Green College.”
Washington Monthly uses a different methodology for its rankings, based on an institution’s contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility, research, and promoting public service. Sewanee ranked #15 this year, out of 214 schools, in the service category—with a perfect score for voter engagement efforts!
The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Ed rankings use yet another methodology, including a student survey as well as public data to rank more than 800 schools in four “pillars,” or categories. Sewanee ranked in the top 20 percent in the “resources” pillar, which looks at the University’s capacity to effectively deliver teaching.
Among less well-known rankings, College Raptor chooses schools for its annual “Hidden Gems” list based on a variety of factors, heavily weighted for retention and graduation rates. Sewanee was on the Hidden Gems lists nationally, in the Southeast, and of schools with the lowest average federal student loan debt.
Finally, Teach For America recently announced that the University of the South is among the top small colleges sending graduates to its 2019 corps of teachers, with five alumni joining TFA this year.
