For the second consecutive year, Howard Payne University was named in U.S.News and World Report “Top Ten” of Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the Western Region. The “America’s Best College’s 2010” report, which was made public today, placed HPU at number ten. The Western Region includes all of the Baccalaureate colleges to the west of Texas and Oklahoma, including California, Alaska and Hawaii.
HPU also holds the distinction of being named #2 in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category of “Comprehensive Colleges – Bachelor’s” in the Western region. Howard Payne placed second behind the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. This is the second year in a row Howard Payne has held this significant ranking and the third consecutive year to be named in the top three.
According to U.S.News and World Report, Great Schools, Great Prices rankings are determined through a formula that relates the school’s, “academic quality, as indicated by its 2010 U.S.News ranking, to the 2008-09 academic year net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.”
“We are delighted to continue to be ranked among the Top Ten schools in all of the Western United States,” said HPU President Dr. Bill Ellis. “We are particularly pleased that HPU has maintained the #2 ranking in Great Schools, Great Prices. This consistent ranking further validates the great value in education that we feel students receive at HPU.”
“America’s Best Colleges 2010,” was made public at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, August 20, 2009.
More than 1,400 schools are ranked by U.S.News & World Report within four geographic regions: North, South, Midwest, and West. There are 319 colleges in the Best Baccalaureate Colleges section and Howard Payne University is one of 47 baccalaureate schools ranked in the western region of the United States.
The rankings are available today at www.usnews.com/colleges. Like all U.S.News categories, the groupings are derived from framework established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2006.
Rankings are determined by taking the following factors into account: Peer Assessment – 25%; Retention – 20%; Faculty Resources – 20%; Student Selectivity – 15%; Financial Resources – 10%; Graduation Rate Performance – 5%; and Alumni Giving – 5%
