˿����Ƶ

AMHERST, N.Y. – ˿����Ƶ College has been ranked nationally for the fourth consecutive year in the prestigious Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (WSJ/THE) Rankings, which is based on student success and learning.

The newly released 2020 list encompasses more than 800 private and public colleges and universities from across the United States. In the Northeast region, ˿����Ƶ is ranked 167 out of 258 institutions, an improvement from 180 in last year’s rankings.

“We are proud to be selected for this prestigious national ranking, which is a tribute to the commitment of our stellar faculty and staff to provide our students an outstanding educational experience,” said ˿����Ƶ President Gary Olson. “˿����Ƶ is truly a special college where students have many opportunities to thrive academically in a vibrant, engaging, and welcoming community that promotes student success.”

The WSJ/THE rankings include results from Times Higher Education’s student survey of more than 170,000 current U.S. college students. The survey assesses areas such as student engagement with their studies, interaction with teachers, and overall student satisfaction with their experience.

The rankings explore four key performance areas: resources (30 percent), engagement (20 percent), outcomes (40 percent), and environment (10 percent). Of these main areas, ˿����Ƶ was strongest in engagement, marking the third time the college has excelled in this pillar. Engagement measures student interaction with faculty and collaborative learning opportunities; breadth of different subjects offered; student recommendations for the college; and opportunities that foster critical thinking, connections, apply learning to the real world, and challenge students.

˿����Ƶ placed in the top 23 in engagement of all colleges ranked in New York State. The college is also ranked No. 11 among private colleges in the state for best value and for low student debt after graduation.

According to WSJ/THE, “decades of research has found that the best way to truly understand teaching quality at an institution – how well it manages to inform, inspire, and challenge students – is through capturing student engagement.”