US NEWS& WORLD REPORT 2012 COLLEGE RANKINGS

[setshot]

Wow! Valpo is now ranked #4 in the MW Regional University category, switching places with Xavier U. The first five ranked schools are:

#1 Creighton
#2 Butler
#3 Drake
#4 Valparaiso
#5 Xavier.

Congratulations and let's keep climbing in the polls. Go Valpo!

[valpopal]

Let me add this as well:

VALPARAISO RANKED AMONG TOP SERVICE-ORIENTED UNIVERSITIES:

Valparaiso University's commitment to preparing graduates who are passionate about using their knowledge and compassion to help others has been recognized by Washington Monthly in its rankings of the nation's top service-oriented schools.

Valpo tied for No. 11 among master's-level universities in the nation, and is the top-ranked school in that category among institutions located in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan or Wisconsin. Valpo tied with two schools, Villanova University and Xavier University of Louisiana.

President Mark A. Heckler said learning through service is one of the most essential components of the Valpo student experience.

"Lifting up people in need deepens Valpo students' understanding of the world and of their own sense of vocation," Heckler said. "Learning through service is one of the cornerstones of a Valpo education that focuses on helping students develop the character, knowledge, integrity and wisdom that thoughtful leaders possess."

Nearly half of Valpo's undergraduate students participated in service projects during the 2010-2011 academic year, performing nearly 60,000 hours of community service.

http://www.valpo.edu/news/news.php?releaseId=4665

[valpotx]

I believe we were consistently #1/#2 in our region when I was in school from 1999-2004.  Let's keep climbing our way back up to that!

[okinawatyphoon]

Also from US News and World Report, we are ranked the #2 Value school in the Midwest. Also, our Engineering program is ranked #27 Nationally (up 4 from last year) and the Nursing Masters program broke the top 100 nationally and ranks #99.

[vu72]

OK, its a slow afternoon, so I thought I'd take a look at the rankings and show a couple of things.  first, where do other Lutheran colleges rank, and second, how do the other Horizon League teams rank.

There are several categories so, without further interpretation, here is what i found:

National College Category

#47 Gettysburg College
#53 St. Olaf
#81 Gustavus
#81 Muhlenberg
#86 Augsburg
#86 Luther
#121 Wittenberg
#139 Concordia Morehead
#151 Wartburg
#165 Carthage
#178 Bethany
#178 Wisconsin Lutheran

Regional Colleges

Midwest:  #3 Augustana
North:  #30 Thiel
         #42 Concordia Bronxville
West:  #4   Texas Lutheran
         #27  Trinity Lutheran

Regional Universities

Midwest:  #4  Valpo
            #28  Augsburg
            #28 Capital
            #41 Concordia Seward
            #66 Concordia Wisconsin
            #91 Concordia River Forest
            #98 Concordia St. Paul

North:    #21 Wagner
West:    #13 Pacific Lutheran
           #18 California Lutheran
           #57 Concordia Irvine
           #88 Concordia Portland

Horizon League Schools
Midwest Regional Universities:
#2 Butler
#4 Valpo
#23 Detroit
#78 Green Bay
#110 Youngstown State

National Universities

#119 Loyola
#150 UIC
Unranked:
Wisc Milwaukee
Cleveland State
Wright State

These national University rankings compare to Purdue at #62, IU at # 75 and DePaul at 132, for example.

I count 29 Lutheran schools and there are probably 10 others that didn't make any rankings.  Given the shrinking number of Lutherans you can now see how difficult it is to keep the Lutheran enrollees up.