GCSU rises in rank

U.S. News and World Report’s 2010 edition named GCSU an “Up-and-coming school” and ranked it 31st in the category of master’s universities in the South, while The Princeton Review selected the college as a “Best in the Southeast” for the third year in a row.

This is a climb for the university as GCSU ranked 43rd in the same category in the 2009 edition of U.S. News and World Report.

The Princeton Review and U.S. News and World Report publish a yearly appraisal of American universities that is meant to inform prospective students, academics and parents of where a particular college stands in relation to other educational institutions of the same vocation.

In each report, all schools are divided into categories and are ranked in accordance to established criteria. According to its Web site, the publication breaks down universities into four different categories “based on their mission.” The categories include “national universities, liberal arts colleges, master’s universities, and baccalaureate colleges.” The categories are further broken down by region. However, the U.S. News and World Report does not rank all colleges.

To be selected, a university must have a minimum of 200 students enrolled and be regionally accredited. According to its Web site, the criteria to be reviewed by The Princeton Review is based on “feedback.from counselors, students, parents,” as well as educator and Princeton Review staff members at office locations dispersed throughout the nation.

The Princeton Review also ranks in accordance to region but further demarcates categories by factoring in variables such as financial aid and administrative services, among others.

In addition to the rise of GCSU’s rank in nationally-recognized publications, the university continues to become more and more difficult to get into.

“Our freshman class has the highest SAT scores behind UGA and Georgia Tech .. And, we do have 50 percent more applicants who are qualified than we can accept at this time,” said Judy Bailey, media relations manager in University Communications at GCSU.

Yet, it is unclear if the accolades tendered by The U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review are directly influencing the increasingly competitive application process.

Taking stock of GCSU’s rankings in both The U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review was a priority for Lori Berry, a freshman and political science major.

“I paid more attention to The U.S. News and World Report than The Princeton Review. It was more down to earth and it did influence my decision to come here,” Berry said.

With the increase of interest in GCSU, it seems likely that the competitive trend will continue. Yet, what GCSU administrators are focusing on is not gaining recognition but providing their students with a well-rounded liberal arts education.

“You have so many more opportunities here than you would at other universities because we are the only public liberal arts university in Georgia.” said Bailey.

The accolades are simply a nice pat on the back.

“We are just doing the job we are here to do. We consider the rankings the cherry on the top of the cake,” Bailey said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 4 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry