Elon earns highest ranking ever by U.S. News & World Report

This is Elon’s highest ranking ever in the nation’s most widely read survey of quality in higher education. Last year, Elon ranked #9 in the southern region category.

As the top North Carolina school in the regional rankings, Elon earns outstanding scores for academic reputation, student retention and graduation rates. Here are the top 10 master’s-level southern universities:

1. University of Richmond (Va.)

2. Rollins College (Fla.)

3. James Madison University (Va.)

4. Stetson University (Fla.)

5. Samford University (Ala.)

6. Elon University

Loyola University New Orleans (La.)

8. The Citadel (S.C.)

Mercer University (Ga.)

University of Mary Washington (Va.)

Elon has the fourth-highest academic reputation among southern universities and is among the leaders in its freshman retention rate (85 percent) and graduation rate (68 percent).

U.S. News & World Report also ranks four Elon academic and student life programs among the nation’s best in all categories of colleges and universities. The “Programs to Look For” lists recognize Elon for providing excellent study abroad courses, service learning opportunities, first-year experiences and learning communities (residential areas that bring together students who share common academic majors, programs or special interests).

The “Programs to Look For” rankings are based on a national survey of college presidents, chief academic officers and deans of students who are asked to nominate schools that are stellar examples of quality in these areas.

Here are the full U.S. News & World Report “Programs to Look For” lists that include Elon:

Study Abroad

Arcadia University (Penn.)

Beloit College (Wis.)

Butler University (Ind.)

Carleton College (Minn.)

Central College (Iowa)

Dartmouth College (N.H.)

Dickinson College (Penn.)

Duke University (N.C.)

Earlham Collegee (Ind.)

Elon University

Georgetown U. (D.C.)

Goshen College (Ind.)

Grinnell College (Iowa)

Indiana U. – Bloomington

Kalamazoo College (Mich.)

Macalester College (Minn.)

Michigan State U.

Middlebury College (Tenn.)

New York University

St. Olaf College (Minn.)

Syracuse University (N.Y.)

U. of Minnesota

U. of Pennsylvania

U. of Wisconsin – Madison

Webster University (Mo.)

Service Learning

Alverno College (Wis.)

Bates College (Maine)

Bentley College (Mass.)

Berea College (Ky.)

Boston College (Mass.)

Brown University (R.I.)

Defiance College (Ohio)

DePaul University (Ill.)

Earlham College (Ind.)

Elon University

Goshen College (Ind.)

Indiana U.-Purdue U.-Indianapolis (Ind.)

Pitzer College (Calif.)

Portland State U. (Ore.)

Stanford University (Calif.)

Trinity College (Conn.)

U. of California – Berkeley

U. of Maryland – College Park

U. of Michigan – Ann Arbor

U. of Pennsylvania

U. of Utah

Vanderbilt U. (Tenn.)

Warren Wilson College (N.C.)

Learning Communities

Alverno College (Wis.)

Appalachian State U. (N.C.)

Bowling Green State U. (Ohio)

Colorado College

Elon University

Evergreen State U. (Wash.)

Georgia State University

Indiana U. – Bloomington

Indiana U.-Purdue U.-Indianapolis (Ind.)

Iowa State University

Miami U. – Oxford (Ohio)

Michigan State University

Portland State U. (Ore.)

Santa Clara University

St. John’s College (Md.)

St. Lawrence U. (N.Y.)

Syracuse University (N.Y.)

Temple University (Penn.)

U. of Maryland – College Park

U. of Michigan – Ann Arbor

U. of Missouri – Columbia

U. of Texas – Austin

U. of Washington

U. of Wisconsin – Madison

Wagner College (N.Y.)

Yale University (Conn.)

First-year Experiences

Alverno College (Wis.)

Amherst College (Mass.)

Appalachian State U. (N.C.)

Ball State U. (Ind.)

Beloit College (Wis.)

Brevard College (N.C.)

College of the Holy Cross (Mass.)

Dartmouth College (N.H.)

DePauw University (Ind.)

Drury University (Mo.)

Duke University (N.C.)

Eckerd College (Fla.)

Elon University

Evergreen State College (Wash.)

Grinnell College (Iowa)

Indiana U. – Bloomington

Indiana U.-Purdue U.-Indianapolis (Ind.)

Kalamazoo College (Mich.)

Kennesaw State U. (Ga.)

Lawrence U. (Wis.)

Loyola College in Maryland

Maryville College (Tenn.)

North Carolina State U.

Ohio State U. – Columbus

Portland State U. (Ore.)

Princeton University (N.J.)

Stanford University (Calif.)

St. Lawrence U. (N.Y.)

Syracuse University (N.Y.)

Texas A&M U. – College Station

Texas A&M U. – Corpus Christi

U. of Maryland – College Park

U. of Minnesota

U. of Missouri

U. of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

University of Notre Dame (Ind.)

U. of South Carolina

U. of Virginia

U. of Wisconsin – Madison

Wake Forest University