U.S. News “Best Colleges” ranking for 2018 was released online September 12th, 2017. Our school continues to prove itself as the remarkable institution it is, as Catawba remains its fourth position among the Best Regional Colleges in the South.

“Very pleased and not surprised”, was the initial reaction of President Brien Lewis when informed of the results. “Being ranked fourth helps perpetuate that image of excellence”, Lewis explains.

For the 2017 rankings, we had moved up 11 positions from the previous year to the number four slot. It is quite impressive that we remain there in the 2018 edition; definitely something to be proud of.

President Lewis explains that there is always room for improvement. As Catawba will continue to strive for higher rankings, Lewis reminds us that it is not always easy to key point areas in which we should put our focus on. “Moving up in the rankings is a complex and challenging thing, for a number of reasons. One, we could improve significantly in some areas and improve our score, but what is the gap between us and the three institutions ahead of us? And you have to assume they’re not standing pat either.”

Each college that the U.S News ranks are based on several key measures of quality. Including, graduation and retention rates (22.5%); assessment of excellence (22.5%); faculty resources (20%); student selectively (12.5%); financial resources (10%); graduation rate performance (7.5%); and alumni giving (5%).

Alumni giving may only be a small portion of the scoring process, but it is not an area that is ignored here at Catawba. “Alumni giving is five percent of your score. So if we can encourage more alumni to give back, even if they are just giving a dollar or 10 dollars, it’s all about the percentage of alumni who give. If there is an area where our Development Office is working hard to drive that number up, not only because it helps the U.S. news score, but obviously you want the alumni giving.”

Lewis expresses his gratitude, as this is something that he has been working towards ever since he has been at Catawba. “I just want to say thank you to all the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have all in ways large and small, helped us move the various needles and improve folks’ perception of the college.”

 Deciding which college or university to attend is a major life decision. Based on U.S News and Princeton Review rankings, it is evident that Catawba College is an institution that is highly recognized across the country. When it comes to searching for a college with the best academic value, Catawba College continues to prove its worth each year.