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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (August 20, 2004) — Milligan College’s alumni giving percentage continues to climb and is among the highest in its category in this year’s U.S. News & World Report college rankings, released this morning . The average for schools in Milligan’s U.S. News category is just 12 percent, while Milligan’s two-year average is 33 percent, a strong indication of alumni support for the institution. In this year’s annual rankings, Milligan is ranked 44th out of 131 schools in the South region of the “Best Universities-Master’s” category — a similar ranking to last year. The college is tied with Marshall University, North Georgia College and State University, and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, with an overall score of 41.
Alumni giving is one of about 15 indicators of academic quality that U.S. News looks to each year in its annual rankings of colleges and universities. It is an important quality indicator to colleges and funding organizations because it signifies the level of confidence and value that alumni have in their alma maters. “Our alumni are clearly seeing the value of their Milligan education and want to continue to advance that same opportunity for others,” said Milligan president Donald R. Jeanes. “We have seen our alumni support double in the past decade as the college has built upon its strengths and effectively communicated those strengths.” Other 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. Specifically, these include peer assessment, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and graduation rate performance.
“The greatest value of the U.S. News rankings is the wealth of statistical information that accompany them,” said David Mee, vice president for enrollment management at Milligan. “We encourage students to look carefully at indicators of academic quality during their college search process. But it is also important to note that a college’s special qualities are more than what are represented in numbers and percentages.”
Mee and his staff encourage students and families to look not only for academic quality but also for the best fit with an institution’s mission and the campus community.
For example, Milligan’s mission is built on a strong academic curriculum rooted in the liberal arts and a Christian worldview, explained Mee. The college has a long history of strong academics and faculty who are dedicated to serving students.
“Investment in a college education is a serious decision and students should consider many factors in selecting their school,” said Mee.
The “Best Universities-Master’s” category, as defined by the Carnegie Foundation, is a group of 572 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 – because they tend to draw students heavily from surrounding states.
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 Aug. 30 weekly edition of U.S. News containing the college rankings and the newsstand book, America’s Best Colleges, will hit newsstands on Monday, Aug. 23.