by Stephen Payne

Of the 201 institutions formally ranked in U.S. News & World Report as top national universities (there are 276 listed overall, but 75 are either unranked or do not have published rankings), Andrews is listed at #181 this year, an improvement over the 2013 rankings.

Andrews is the only Seventh-day Adventist institution included in this classification and U.S. News list.

According to U.S. News, schools in the National Universities category are ranked by the Carnegie Classifications, a category that also includes Columbia University and Stanford University. The ranking indicates that Andrews and other national universities in this category offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and PhD programs. These universities also are committed to producing groundbreaking research.

Andrews University made a few other U.S. News & World Report college ranking lists. With a diversity index of .74 (the closer a school’s number is to 1.0, the more diverse it is), the University is tied second nationally in Campus Ethnic Diversity among national universities, a ranking shared with Stanford University, University of Houston and St. John’s University in New York.

With 14 percent of our student body composed of international students, Andrews is once again tied for 9th (with Brandeis University in Massachusetts) in Most International Students.

The physical therapy and social work programs at Andrews made the top 150 of U.S. News’ “Best Grad Schools 2014” list. Andrews’ graduate programs in counseling psychology and nursing, along with the University’s School of Education, were also included in the overall rankings. In the U.S. News’ “Best Online Programs 2014” ranking, the University’s online MBA and graduate education programs were both listed among the top online programs (ranking #69 and #109 respectively among nearly 150 ranked programs in each area).

Andrews was also listed within other “best of” lists in U.S. News’ annual rankings for national universities, including “A+ Colleges for B Students,” “Economic Diversity,” “Freshman Retention Rates,” “Highest Level of Need-Based Aid Awarded” (ranking #58 out of 250 national universities listed), and “Highest 6-Year Graduation Rates.”

Forbes.com also ranked Andrews University #543 (an improvement over 2013 rankings) in “America’s Top Colleges,” a compilation of the 650 best educational institutions (out of more than 6,000) across the country. Forbes gives an overall rating and smaller subcategory ratings; once again, Andrews University also made the lists “Best Private Colleges,” “Best Research Universities” and “Best in the Midwest.”

Like many universities nationwide this fall, Andrews University has seen a decrease in its 2013–2014 enrollment, with 3,516 undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students enrolled on our main campus. This represents an overall decrease of 35 students, or one percent fewer than last year. Even with that decrease, over the past decade, enrollment on the University’s Berrien Springs campus has increased by more than 500 students, or 17 percent.

“The trend in our enrollment this fall reflects a national trend in undergraduate higher education, especially with decreases in freshmen student populations across the United States,” says Randy Graves, vice president for enrollment management. “We’re challenged to continue to find ways to contain our costs, as well as find effective ways to help assure our students graduate in a timely way and, as a result, reduce their overall level of student debt. We’re working together as a campus this fall to understand how we can tighten our focus on serving our current students as well as those who will attend Andrews in the future.”

Elsewhere on the Berrien Springs campus, the graduate programs enrolled 386 new graduate students this fall, the highest number in five years, and an increase of 29 new students over last fall’s enrollment in this category.

Three years ago, Andrews University assumed ownership of Griggs University & Griggs International Academy, previously operated by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

The newly created School of Distance Education oversees the operations of these Griggs programs, and also coordinates affiliate and extension education sites for the University throughout the United States and around the world. Altogether, 3,049 students pursue Andrews University degrees at affiliate or extension sites worldwide (this number includes 994 Griggs University students).

Griggs International Academy teaches 1,562 students worldwide. These include students at both elementary and high school levels doing home schooling or studying full-time at Griggs International Academy sites globally, along with Job Corps, a program that offers high school diplomas and job skill training to at-risk students throughout the United States.

Click below for the complete college rankings lists for U.S. News and Forbes.

U.S. News & World Report
Forbes