SMU changes U.S. News categories

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in a new category in its “America’s Best Colleges” survey for 2008. The annual listing of more than 1,400 schools is available online at www.usnews.com. Rankings were announced Aug. 17.

Saint Mary’s is ranked in the third tier of the U.S. News “National Universities” category. The third tier includes schools ranked 131 through 187 — of 262 total — and is not ranked numerically. Saint Mary’s, St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota are the only Minnesota schools represented in this category.
Read more...

U.S. News & World Report ranked “National Universities” in a top tier, third tier and fourth tier. Its other institutional categories include: “Liberal Arts Colleges,” “Universities-Master’s” and “Baccalaureate Colleges.”

This year SMU was grouped in the “National Universities” category by U.S. News & World Report, due to reclassification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The Carnegie Foundation reclassified SMU from a “master’s comprehensive” to a “doctoral institution.” This change reflects the rising number of doctoral degrees given by Saint Mary’s through its Ed.D. in Leadership program. In previous years, SMU was in the first tier of U.S. News’ “Midwestern Colleges and Universities with Master Degree Programs” category. Last year, SMU was ranked 31st in the top tier of this category.

The “National Universities” category includes 262 American universities (164 public and 98 private) that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees.