By Greg Allen
Co Editor-in-Chief
The U.S. News & World Report’s most recent edition of “Best Colleges” was released on Tuesday morning, and Springfield College has once again climbed up the ladder. Ranked No. 29 in last year’s report, Springfield College has jumped up two spots to No. 27 in the first tier of the Best Regional Universities—North category.
Springfield released the news on its website, Instagram, Twitter and via email Tuesday morning.
Since 2011, when the college was ranked No. 67, the college has increased its ranking 40 spots—a jump that according to the college’s Executive Director of Communications Steve Roulier is “extremely rare, if not unprecedented.”
Administrators including Springfield College President Mary-Beth Cooper are thrilled with the rankings. In a leadership meeting Tuesday morning, Cooper stressed that everyone who is a part of the college deserves credit for the ranking.
“Dr. Cooper wanted to make sure that everyone gets credit. It’s everybody,” Roulier said. “She was very grateful for the students, staff and faculty. It’s all because of them. These are college-wide rankings.:
Springfield is also ranked No. 12 as a college offering students the best value. This is the first year the college has been listed in the Best Values category, which considers the college’s academic quality and net cost of attendance. This stat has the best opportunity to attract prospective students and is a very marketable ranking for the college.
“With the current state of many families struggling and the cost of student loans, you’re able to look at Springfield College as a best value,” Roulier said. “Not only are we providing a quality education, but we’re doing it at a cost that hopefully they can afford.”
The rise in the rankings is attributed to steadily increasing retention and graduation rates, peer review, class size, alumni giving and more. Springfield College sees 96 percent of students employed or continuing on to graduate school upon graduation.
Students are impressed with the rankings as well, feeling a sense of validation for their choice to attend the institution.
“Seeing this news feels great,” junior finance major and football player Dom Traversa said. “From the start I knew Springfield was the right school for me, but this just adds some reassurance that I’m in a great place.”
Despite the inclining success of the institution, there is always room for improvement. The college and its administrators hope to continue to see growth in academic excellence. Perhaps an 85 percent average freshman retention rate can become a 90 percent retention rate.
Cooper and Roulier don’t plan on resting on the college’s laurels. Roulier approached Cooper Tuesday and said, “Wow, this is great, we’re ranked No. 27.” The ambitious president responded with, “Let’s get to No. 25 next year.”