The 2020 ranking of best colleges and universities from U.S. News & World Report has been released and Millersville University (MU) is #24 on the list of “best public universities in the north” – up five spots since last year’s rankings. Additionally, Millersville moved up nine spots, from 103 to 94, in the “public and private universities in the north” ranking.
The rankings look at retention rates, graduation rates, size of classes, student/faculty ratio, SAT/ACT standings, high school class standings, acceptance rate and average alumni giving.
“These rankings confirm what we’ve known for some time,” noted Dr. Daniel Wubah, MU President, “Millersville University and our students continue to perform admirably when compared with our peers. We are proud that 11% of our new freshmen and transfers this year earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, and more than 40% of our incoming freshmen have a 3.5 GPA or higher. It is our outstanding students and dedicated faculty who make Millersville University a fine institution,” Wubah continued.
Other State System schools that made the regional university list include West Chester #12, Slippery Rock #19, Lock Haven #24 (tie), Shippensburg #27, Bloomsburg and Clarion tied at #37 and Kutztown was #43.
“While we are working diligently to improve our 4-year graduation rate and alumni giving, we’re pleased that we have moved up in the rankings,” says Wubah.
U.S. News groups colleges into categories based on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the most widely accepted classification system in U.S. higher education. In December 2018, Carnegie released official updates – called the “2018 update.” As a result, for the 2020 Best Colleges, about 13 percent of ranked schools have moved into different categories; for example, a university categorized previously as a Regional University may now be a National University.
Millersville is listed under “Regional Universities” in the rankings. U.S. News defines regional universities as those that offer a full range of undergraduate programs and some master’s programs but few doctoral programs. These rankings are split into four regions: North, South, Midwest and West. The ‘Ville is in the north region.
The “Best Colleges 2020” guidebook, available for pre-order, will start shipping in early October and will be in stores on Oct. 15.
Share Millersville’s ranking on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat using #BestColleges.