Rankings Roundup and What Others Say

Centre President John Roush frequently counsels members of the Centre community to enjoy the College's high rankings, while at the same time taking them with a large grain of salt.

But he also points out that the rankings matter and that “considered collectively…they have substance.”

He goes on to say, “If a school is highly ranked and regarded in virtually all the lists and guidebooks—which make their determinations based on widely varying methodologies—it's fairly likely that good things are happening in terms of the education being provided to young men and women on that campus. This is the case with Centre College to a remarkable degree. Wherever you look—from U.S. News to Forbes to Colleges That Change Lives to the National Survey of Student Engagement—you'll find Centre among the leaders. Very few educational institutions in the U.S. are regarded so favorably by so many.”

President Roush interviewed by Business Lexington: Staying Centre'd — Centre President John Roush keeps rankings in perspective

Guidebook/Rankings Summary

The National Survey of Student Engagement

Centre exceeds national average in all NSSE categories

More about Centre and NSSE

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News ranks Centre College #42 in the nation

Ranked #42, “National Liberal Arts Colleges” category
Ranked #15, “Best Undergraduate Teaching” category
Ranked #27, “Best Schools, Best Values” category
Ranked #53, “High School Counselors” category
Ranked #3, “Most Students Studying Abroad”category
Ranked #8, “Students Receiving Merit Aid”category
Top 10 Most Loved Schools: More alumni give money to these schools than to any other institutions (Centre alumni giving ranks at 56.7 percent)

Forbes Magazine

Ranked #34, “Best 50 Colleges” category (combines all colleges and universities)

Centre College was named one of the top 200 Best Values in Private Colleges by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

200 Colleges Named Best Values in Private Colleges by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. The report ranked the schools based on outstanding academics and great economic value. Centre College placed in the top 200 because of a high four-year graduation rate, low average student debt at graduation, good student-to-faculty ratio, excellent on-campus resources and overall great value.

Featured as one of nation’s “best colleges”
Named a “best value” private college
Highest academic ranking of any college or university in the state
Centre again named one of Princeton Review’s top green colleges

Fiske Guide to Colleges

Fiske Guide to Colleges calls Centre College “certainly the best”

Yale’s The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges

Centre “provides its 1,215 students with a unique education that includes going to the ballet or to see a musical for credit, a guaranteed internship and semester abroad, and...200 years of history.”

What Others Say

Colleges That Change Lives

“No university faculty compares with Centre’s in the impact it has on the growth of young minds and personalities.”

Centre named one of ‘America’s Coolest Schools’ by the Sierra Club

Centre was recently named one of “America’s Coolest Schools” in the Sierra Club’s fifth annual ranking of the greenest colleges in the United States. Over 100 colleges comprise the list — but Centre is one of only fifteen of the top fifty colleges in the nation as ranked by US News " World Report to make the cut.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Kiplinger’s names Centre among best liberal arts values

The Lane Report

The Lane Report salutes Centre’s “high-impact education”

The New York Times

Chronicle of Higher Education

Kentucky Monthly

Ranked No. 1 on list of The 5 Coolest College Towns in Kentucky

“There's a little college down in Kentucky which in 60 years has graduated more men who have acquired prominence and fame than has Princeton in her 150 years.”
—Woodrow Wilson in 1903

“Centre College graduates have a proud tradition of service and dedication to the good of the nation.”
—Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, speaking at a recent Commencement