Back to News 
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (August 22, 2003) – Milligan College has one of the highest “alumni giving rates” in its category in this year’s U.S. News & World Report college rankings, released this morning. In the “Best Universities-Master’s” category, Milligan ranks in the second of four tiers in the Southern region of the United States. Milligan is the only institution in the Tri-Cities region in this category.
In 2001, more than 28 percent of Milligan alumni made a financial contribution to the college. The average alumni giving rate for all 131 schools ranked in the southern region of the “Best Universities-Master’s” category was just 12 percent. U.S. News computed the schools’ alumni giving rates as a two year average for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 academic years.
“This reflects a confidence and pride in the college among our alumni,” said Milligan President Don Jeanes, who explained that the percentage of alumni supporting Milligan has doubled in the past six years. This past fiscal year, more than 32 percent contributed, he added.
The “Best Universities-Master’s” category, as defined by the Carnegie Foundation, is a group of 573 colleges and universities that provide a full range of undergraduate and master’s programs. The category is ranked within four geographic areas: North, South, Midwest and West.
The indicators used by U.S. News to rank colleges and universities are based on up to 15 indicators of academic excellence, including peer assessment, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate. The indicators include input measures that reflect a school’s student body, its faculty and its financial resources, and outcome measures that signal how well the institution does its job of educating students.
“Milligan’s academic standing and reputation among our peer institutions throughout the South and nation is continually reaffirmed,” said Jeanes, who pointed out that the college is mission-driven.
“Whether in the classroom, dorm, or athletic field, our mission is to encourage our students to reflect on how their faith is related to their career choices and what it means to be ‘called’ to lives of service, whatever their academic study may be,” Jeanes said.
Milligan has a long history of rigorous academics and faculty who are dedicated to serving students, explained Jeanes. The college’s mission is built on a strong academic curriculum rooted in the liberal arts and a Christian worldview.
The U.S. News categories are based on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education released in late 2000 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Carnegie’s is the most widely accepted system for classifying American colleges and universities. It is used by governments and foundations when making funding decisions and is favored by researchers who study trends in higher education.
The college rankings are available at www.usnews.com, and both the weekly edition of U.S. News containing the college rankings and the newsstand book, America’s Best Colleges, will hit newsstands on Monday, Aug. 25.