Salisbury University ranked in Top Tier of U.S. News & World Report's 2003 "America's Best Colleges

SALISBURY, MD ------Salisbury University has vaulted into the Top Tier rankings of the just released U.S. News & World Report's 2003 "America's Best Colleges." This marks the first time Salisbury has earned this Top Tier status. SU is ranked in the Best Universities-Master's category-North region, which includes both public and private universities.

The recognition from U.S. News' "America's Best Colleges," the most popular of the annual college ranking publications, comes on the heels of similar kudos from other guide books and magazines in recent weeks. Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, The Princeton Review's Best 345 Colleges and Kaplan's Publishing's 320 Most Interesting Colleges all ranked SU among the nation's best universities, public and private.

"We are obviously extremely pleased about the recognition Salisbury University is receiving from these national publications," said SU President Janet Dudley-Eshbach. "The rankings confirm what many in Maryland and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic have known for some time, that SU is one of best universities of its kind, public or private, in the nation. No doubt about it, Salisbury University is rising in reputation and quality and we're loving it!"

Salisbury, which previously ranked near the top of U.S. News' Second Tier, is also included in the publication's "Top Public Universities-Master's" in the North. (Rankings are divided into four tiers.) This is the sixth consecutive year SU has appeared on this Top 10 list for public institutions.

In the October issue of Kiplinger's, SU is 55th, its highest rank ever, among the over 600 public colleges and universities in the country surveyed, from national research institutions such as the University of Maryland College Park to regional campuses such as Salisbury. Comparisons are based on balancing the cost of attending a college with quantifiable quality measures.

SU is featured for the fourth straight year in The Princeton Review's Best 345 Colleges, or the top 10 percent of some 3,500 public and private colleges and universities nationally. The list of top institutions is compiled through a combination of statistical analysis, campus visits and student surveys which the authors characterize as "qualitative and anecdotal rather than quantitative and scientific."

Published for the first time this fall, Kaplan's The Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges (from among 3,500 public and privates in the nation) divides its institutional profiles into three sections: "Inside the Classroom," "Campus Environment" and "Student Life."

MAGAZINE AND GUIDE BOOK RANKING CRITERIA

U.S. News & World Report's 2003 "America's Best Colleges"

U.S. News categorizes the nation's colleges and universities by mission: 249 national universities-doctoral, 217 liberal arts college-bachelor's, 573 universities-master's (offering undergraduate degrees, some master's degree programs but few, if any, doctoral programs) and 324 comprehensive colleges-bachelor's. Master's universities are further subdivided by geographic area: North, South, Midwest and West. U.S. News then gathers data from each college on up to 16 weighted indicators of academic excellence. Indicators used include student retention, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving and peer assessment. Colleges in each category are then ranked against their peers, based on their composite weighted score. The list is divided into four tiers.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Cost considerations for Kiplinger's include in-state and out-of-state tuition, fees, other estimated expenses and room and board. Quality measurements include graduation rates (four- and six-year), students-to-faculty ratio and SAT or ACT scores.

SU also ranked in Kiplinger's top 10 among all institutions nationwide in a separate listing of campuses with the best four-year graduation rates. Others in this list included the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the University of Virginia.

The Princeton Review's Best 345 Colleges

The following are a pair of the responses from the SU student survey for Princeton Review: "What I like most about this school is how much the professors are willing to help students both inside and outside of class." And, "We're close to the beach, and have great weather, challenging courses, great people: what more could a person ask for?"

Other Maryland campuses in Princeton Review are Goucher College, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College, St. John's College, St. Mary's College, U.S. Naval Academy, University of Maryland Baltimore County and University of Maryland College Park. The Review is a publication of Random House, Inc.

Kaplan's The Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges

According to the researchers for this guide book, "If public university tuition with small school class size appeals to you, take a look at Salisbury. Service learning, internships and research opportunities abound."

A publication of Simon & Schuster, Inc., other Maryland schools in Kaplan's are Goucher College, Johns Hopkins University, St. John's College, U. S. Naval Academy, University of Maryland Baltimore County and University of Maryland College Park.