U.S. News & World Report, which publishes the nation’s best-known college rankings, places Elmhurst College third in the Midwest this year among colleges and universities known for the strength of their undergraduate teaching.
The Undergraduate Teaching category becomes the fourth in which Elmhurst has earned top-tier status, according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings for 2018. The other categories are Best Regional Universities, Best Value and Best Colleges for Veterans, all in the Midwest.
In the Best Regional Universities category, Elmhurst ranks No. 11 this year out of 165 colleges and universities across the Midwest that provide a full range of undergraduate majors and some graduate programs. In the Best Value category, the College ranks No. 13 among colleges and universities that offer the best bang for the tuition buck. Only schools that rank in or near the top half of their U.S. News Best Colleges category were evaluated for a Best Value ranking because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that perform well academically.
The College moved up a spot in the Best Colleges for Veterans category, from No. 10 last year to No. 9 this year. This category tells military veterans and active-duty service members which top-ranked schools in the Midwest offer benefits that help make a college education more affordable. To be ranked, a school had to be in the top half of its U.S. News Best Colleges category, be certified for the GI Bill, participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program, and have enrolled a minimum of 20 veterans and active service members, or a critical mass, in the 2016-2017 academic year.
This year marks the first time Elmhurst College has taken a top spot in the Undergraduate Teaching category. To compile that ranking, U.S. News asked academic experts to identify peer schools where the faculty has an unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching. Elmhurst was cited third most often by college presidents, provosts and admission deans who were asked to nominate up to 10 schools in their U.S. News ranking category.
Time and again, current and prospective students, as well as high school guidance counselors and peer institutions, cite Elmhurst College’s faculty as one of the institution’s most distinctive hallmarks. With a faculty-to-student ratio of 14 to 1, Elmhurst is known as a place where faculty are both teachers and mentors. Faculty members include Grammy Award winners, Fulbright scholars, and former executives and industry professionals. Many involve their students in research, case study, performance and other opportunities considered exceptional at the undergraduate level.
“At Elmhurst College we pride ourselves on our faculty members—their passion for teaching and their commitment to our students’ success. They personify what we do and why we do it, and our students are the beneficiaries,” said Elmhurst College President Troy D. VanAken. “The U.S. News rankings are a great reinforcement by our institutional peers of something we’ve always known. I congratulate the faculty and the rest of the Elmhurst College community on this latest recognition.”