Centre retains Top-50 U.S. News ranking

RELEASED: August 23, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—Centre College has maintained its place among the Top 50 national liberal arts colleges in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, released today. Centre is No. 44 among liberal arts colleges, in a three-way tie with Connecticut College and Dickinson College. Centre, which was at 44 last year, retained its position despite the inclusion of 51 additional institutions in the national liberal arts category.

Williams retains the No. 1 national liberal arts college ranking, followed by Amherst, Swarthmore and Wellesley.

Centre remains the highest nationally ranked Kentucky college or university by a wide margin. Centre was also included on the U.S. News "Great Colleges, Great Prices" list, in the No. 15 spot.

"We're honored to retain our leadership position for Kentucky colleges and universities in the U.S. News rankings," said John Roush, Centre's president. "The fact that we have such a high academic profile is a tribute to the generosity of our friends and alumni, who provide us with such stellar support. Our ranking by Consumers Digest earlier this year as the number one value among liberal arts colleges reinforces this honor.

"This year, we have a record-breaking opening enrollment, and our Campaign for A More Perfect Centre fundraising campaign has rapidly surpassed its overall target goal of $120 million. Our outcomes, as measured by the National Survey for Student Engagement, a terrific complement to the data U.S. News measures, are also among the best in the nation."

Centre is also ranked No. 6 on the list of highest percentage of students who study abroad; No. 26 (in a four-way tie) on the list of highest percentage of students receiving merit aid; No. 42 (in a seven-way tie) on the list of highest (four-year) graduation rates; and No. 47 (in a five-way tie) on the list of most students living in university housing.

Other Kentucky schools included in the "liberal arts colleges" category of the U.S. News rankings are Berea College (in a five-way tie for 75th), Transylvania University (87th), Asbury College (third tier), Georgetown College (third tier) and Lindsey Wilson (fourth tier).

In the "national universities-doctoral" category, the University of Kentucky is ranked 122nd, and the University of Louisville is in the unranked third tier.


For more on the U.S. News rankings, go to http://www.usnews.com/usnews/home.htm.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.