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Washington Monthly ranks SIUE tops among master’s universities in Illinois
For the first time, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has climbed into Washington Monthly’s Top 40 for master’s universities in the nation. SIUE is first among all master’s institutions in Illinois on the national magazine’s list.
Photo by Roger Starkey
Unlike conventional college rankings, Washington Monthly evaluates an institution’s “contribution to the public good” in three broad categories: Social Mobility – recruiting and graduating low-income students; Research – producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs; and Service – encouraging students to give something back to their country.
“Moving up in Washington Monthly’s annual rankings is particularly noteworthy as we position SIUE among the top universities in the Midwest,” SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe said. “Our students’ strong commitment to community service demonstrates that we follow through on our mission to encourage students to be highly engaged, productive citizens.”
Washington Monthly ranked SIUE 40th overall in the Master’s Universities category, which includes 671 public and private institutions. SIUE jumped from 57th in last year’s rankings. View the entire list here.
SIUE ranked No. 8 in expenditures for research, having invested more than $30 million in research and public service projects in fiscal year 2013. This investment allows a significant number of SIUE students at the graduate and undergraduate levels the opportunity to participate in research projects in their fields of study.
Under the service sub-category, SIUE was ranked eighth in the percent of federal work study funds dedicated to students employed in community service programs.
SIUE students have many opportunities to work on service projects throughout the year through the University’s Kimmel Student Involvement Center. Students completed nearly 280,000 service hours during the 2013-14 academic year. Those service hours include service-learning hours through coursework, volunteer projects, the SIUE Experience service day, scholarship service requirements, the AmeriCorps America Reads program and student organizations that track their service hours.
U.S. News tabs SIUE among top Midwest regional universities for 11th consecutive year
U.S.News & World Report ranks Southern Illinois University Edwardsville among the best Regional Universities Midwest for the 11th consecutive year, and among the top 15 public universities in that category. The listing is in the magazine’s “Best Colleges of 2015” issue that was released today.
SIUE remained in the top 50 of the Regional Universities Midwest category at 47 in this year’s rankings. SIUE is 11th overall among public universities in that category. The U.S. News overall scores are based on the reputation of SIUE in higher education, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.
“SIUE’s hallmark is providing affordable academic excellence and producing exceptional leaders for our community and region,” said SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe. “Our distinguished faculty and talented staff provide the type of individualized attention and unique experiences that prepare SIUE students for career success.”
SIUE’s steady growth during the past decade has continued with a record freshman class for Fall 2014 along with record total enrollments for the Schools of Engineering, Nursing and Pharmacy. Meanwhile, undergraduate programs in the Schools of Business, Engineering, Nursing, and Education, Health and Human Behavior are enjoying enrollment increases.
Regional universities are considered to have a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s programs, but few doctoral programs. The 620 universities in this category are ranked against their peer group in one of four geographic regions (North, South, Midwest and West), because they tend to draw students most heavily from surrounding states.
SIUE is also included among the 2015 “Up and Comers” among Midwest regional universities. College administrators were surveyed last spring to nominate institutions that they believe have recently made the most promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty, student life, campus or facilities. SIUE is among a group that includes Truman State University (Mo.), Valparaiso University (Ind.) and Butler University (Ind.).
The latest U.S. News rankings come on the heels of last month’s recognition by Washington Monthly that ranks SIUE among the top 40 master’s universities in the nation and No. 1 among all institutions in Illinois.
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