PC, Brown lead local schools <br>in U.S. News’ latest ranking

WASHINGTON – U.S. News and World Report once again has published its list of “America’s Best Colleges,” giving some local schools reason to crow. Leading the pack, Providence College came in second in the magazine’s ranking of universities in the North that offer a large assortment of undergraduate and graduate programs but have few doctoral programs.
The 24-year-old ranking – to be published in the magazine’s August 27 edition – divides the nation’s public and private institutions into four institutional categories – national universities, liberal arts colleges, comprehensive colleges and master’s universities, as well as programs in business and engineering. For the current ranking, the magazine reviewed more than 1,900 schools (READ MORE).
Providence College’s ranking came in the “Master’s Universities, Northern” grouping. Other local institutions ranked in that category were Bryant University (17th), Salve Regina University (35) and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (51). Listed outside the top 50 percent in the category (and thus not ranked) were Johnson and Wales University and Rhode Island College.
Brown University retained its Top 20 ranking in the “National Universities” ranking, coming in at No. 14 (the top school in the category was Princeton University). Falling outside the top 50 percent in the category was the University of Rhode Island. Brown also placed 15th on the “Best Value” list.
The “Top Liberal Arts Colleges” included two institutions ranked in the top 50 percent – Wheaton College, at No. 56, and Stonehill College at No. 106. Similarly focused on undergraduate education are the “Baccalaureate Colleges,” the major difference being that they grant fewer than 50 percent of their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. Roger Williams University ranked 9th in the Northern region in the category.