VCSU wins honor for second year in a row

For the second year in a row, Valley City (N.D.) State University earned the No. 1 spot among the Top Public Regional Colleges in the Midwest in the 2013 edition of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News Media Group. This marks the 15th year in a row that VCSU has been recognized by U.S. News.

“Being recognized as the No. 1 public college in the Midwest region by U.S. News for two straight years, and being recognized as a ‘Best College’ for 15 consecutive years, is strong evidence of the exceptional academic quality at VCSU,” said Steven Shirley, VCSU president. “The variety of criteria used by U.S. News to compile their rankings encompasses an important range of academic benchmarks, and VCSU could not have earned this No. 1 ranking two straight years were it not for our commitment to academic excellence. Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and members of the VCSU community can all be very proud of this tremendous accomplishment.”

The U.S. News college rankings group accredited institutions in the United States based on their mission and, for some categories, by location. The institutions are then compared based on a set of up to 16 areas related to academic excellence.

Criteria in which VCSU fared well include graduation rate, average class size, peer assessment, student-faculty ratio, and alumni giving. The category “Regional Colleges in the Midwest” includes 99 colleges and universities, 14 of which are public, across 12 states.

The rankings are available at www.usnews.com/colleges, and will be published in the September issue of the U.S.News & World Report magazine.

Tags: community, education