News Archives - 2003

Augsburg College has been named among the nation's best colleges in three categories and ranked in the top tier among Midwestern universities by two national collegiate ranking services in reports released this week.

The College was named by "U.S. News & World Report" as one of the nation's top twenty Service-Learning institutions – the only Minnesota school selected and one of only four institutions in the Midwest – as part of the annual U.S. News' "America's Best Colleges" guide.

U.S. News also ranked the College in its First Tier of the "Best Universities - Master's" for the Midwest Region. Augsburg was ranked 24th in the region. The category is divided into four tiers with 142 institutions considered for the ranking. Augsburg is ranked against schools such as Creighton, Drake, Evansville and Bradley Universities in the category.

"The Princeton Review," which annually has ranked the nation's 350 best institutions, this year expanded its national guide to 600 schools, divided into four 150-school regions. Augsburg is included in the 150 "Best for the Midwest" with a glowing report citing "an outstanding faculty; small class sizes; and a friendly environment." The study praised Augsburg's dedication toward diversity, pointing to its four ethnic services programs, the newly-created "Scholastic Connections" program, and programs to assist students with disabilities or in recovery from addiction.

Kaplan Publishing has released a new book titled "The Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges, 2004," listing Augsburg among those schools and placing it among its top five schools that may be underrated. The Kaplan guide was based on a national survey of guidance counselors, conducted by the New York-based Market Measurement research firm. Counselors from U.S. public, private and Catholic high schools were interviewed to compile the list.

And, finally, for the third consecutive year, Augsburg has been included in the national guide, "Great Colleges for the Real World," published by Octameron Associates in Alexandria, Va.

According to the editors, colleges and universities selected for the guide are "those that best demonstrate both the education and the opportunities to prepare students for the real world."