SRU ranked a “Best Regional University” by U.S. News

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Sept. 13, 2016

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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University has been named among the 2017 "Best Regional Universities - North" by U.S. News & World Report.

"This accolade is the result of a true team effort," said Cheryl Norton, SRU president. "It's a strong reflection of not only our enrollment initiatives but our successful retention efforts. SRU faculty, staff, students and alumni can take pride in their institution as being recognized as one of the nation's best."

The University ranked among the top 100 regional universities in the North. According to the magazine, the 653 universities in the regional category were ranked against their peer group in one of four regions - North, South, Midwest and West - because "in general they tend to draw students most heavily from surrounding states."

According to U.S. News, regional universities are defined as "(those) institutions that ... provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master's programs; the difference (being) that they offer (fewer) doctoral programs."

U.S. News groups colleges into categories based on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the most widely accepted classification system in U.S. higher education. In February 2016, Carnegie released official updates - called the "2015 update" - including the Basic Classification used for Best Colleges. As a result, for the 2017 Best Colleges, about 12 percent of ranked schools have moved into different categories; for example, a university categorized previously as a regional university may now be a national university.

Rankings are based on several key measures of quality, with scores for each measure weighted to arrive at a final overall score, including:

  • Graduation and retention rates, 22.5 percent;
  • Assessment of excellence, 22.5 percent;
  • Faculty resources, 20 percent;
  • Student selectivity, 12.5 percent;
  • Financial resources, 10 percent;
  • Graduation rate performance*, 7.5 percent; and
  • Alumni giving, 5 percent

(*The difference between actual and predicted graduation rates.)

MEDIA CONTACT: Robb King | 724.738.2199 | robert.king@sru.edu

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