AZUSA, Calif. –Azusa Pacific University held its place for the second year in the most prestigious category of the U.S.News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2009, ranking in the third tier of the national category.
Additionally, for the first time, U.S. News asked the experts who respond to its annual peer assessment survey to identify the best up-and-coming national universities. APU ranked ninth, tying with the University of San Diego; University of California, Riverside; University of North Carolina, Charlotte; and the University of South Carolina, Columbia.
“This classification affirms Azusa Pacific University’s place among the best universities nationwide,” said APU President Jon R. Wallace, DBA. “Today’s students are looking for the highest quality programs, and APU is able to meet those needs with the help of our world-class faculty in our undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs.”
According to U.S.News & World Report, schools in the national universities group include 262 American universities (164 public and 98 private) that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees; many strongly emphasize research.
The national universities classification considers eight primary areas, including peer assessment, retention and graduation rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance. Rankings are derived 75 percent from objective measures, and 25 percent from a reputation survey distributed to presidents, provosts, and deans of admission at participating schools. For more information, visit www.usnews.com.
In addition, for the fifth consecutive year, The Princeton Review designated APU as 1 of 120 colleges in the 2009 Best in the West category. Schools selected as part of this category met rigorous standards for academic excellence and reflect students’ comments, supplied anonymously. According to The Princeton Review, their goal remains simple: to identify stand-out colleges and universities within each region.
The Princeton Review annually analyzes academic standards and conducts student surveys to raise awareness of academically strong colleges for students looking to study in a particular geographic area. For a complete listing of results, visit www.princetonreview.com.
