Eastern has retained its spot in the top tier of U.S. News & World Report’s top public universities in the Midwest for the third consecutive year.

Rankings released Sept. 1 in the magazine’s annual guide to “Americas Best Colleges” shows Eastern once again ranks 31st among 143 public and private Midwestern/regional institutions. Eastern’s also the only public university in Illinois listed in the first, or top, tier of four in the “Best Universities – Master’s (Regional/Midwest)” ranking category.

This category represents those universities offering a full range of undergraduate degrees and some master’s degree programs, but few, if any, doctoral programs.

Of the 143 Midwestern master’s universities, only 38 were placed in the top tier and only seven of those 38 are public, vs. private, institutions.

Rankings are based on schools’ academic reputations, student selectivity, faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, financial resources and alumni giving.

Eastern’s greatest strengths, in addition to its academic reputation, include its average graduation rate of 66 percent, a freshman-to-sophomore retention rate of 81 percent and a percentage of full-time faculty (96 percent).

Lou Hencken, interim President, said, the rank is a great accomplishment of the university.

“I think what this shows, is something most people believe on campus … It’s a great tribute to the

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quality of Eastern, which is typified by the hard work and dedication of the faculty, staff and students of the university,” Hencken said.

Dale Wolf, director of admissions, said he was not surprised by Eastern’s rank.

“I am more pleased than surprised,” Wolf said. “The thing is getting there in the first place, and we are there, so we are going to do everything to stay there.”

“Obviously, I was very pleased,” said Blair Lord, Vice President for Academic Affairs. “I also will admit to being ‘pleasantly surprised.’ I say this because the financial stress on public higher education both in Illinois and nationally raised a concern that we might not have been viewed as favorably as in the past.”

Hencken said the U.S. News ranking put a lot of faith into this publication and it is rankings by an outside group.

“It puts an emphasis on what other universities think of you,” Hencken said.

Hencken, Lord and Wolf each participated in the ranking process for other schools.

Lord said U.S. News considers a variety of factors such as financial information, qualifications of faculty and peer perceptions.

“Among the elements which U.S. News views favorably – things like smaller class sizes and healthy expenditure per credit hour – are those things most difficult to accomplish in challenging times,” Lord said. “That we appear to have handled the challenges reasonably well thus far undoubted helped us retain our favorable ranking.”

Lord said the rank will help to promote Eastern.

“Prospective students use many resources to gather information during their college selection process. Certainly, proprietary rating services like U.S. News are among those referenced. A continued strong ranking serves as one strong signal to prospective students and their parents of the quality of our institution. Such perceptions stimulate additional interest in Eastern.”

Campus editor Jennifer Chiariello can be reached at [email protected].