Washington Monthly magazine released its 2012 College Guide and Rankings on Aug. 27 and Catawba College is included in that publication’s baccalaureate college rankings. Catawba ranks 89th out of 352 baccalaureate colleges in the country.
Washington Monthly rates schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.D.s), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country). Institutions are ranked in four categories: liberal arts colleges, national universities, master’s universities or baccalaureate colleges. The New York Times has called Washington Monthly’s College Guide and Rankings “more interesting than virtually any other ranking out there.”
This publication’s online site notes that “Unlike U.S. News and World Report and similar guides, this one asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country. Are they educating low-income students or just catering to the affluent? Are they improving the quality of their teaching or ducking accountability for it? Are they trying to become more productive-and if so, why is average tuition rising faster than health care costs? Every year we lavish billions of tax dollars and other public benefits on institutions of higher learning. This guide asks: Are we getting the most for our money?”
Visit the Washington Monthly’s site at http://washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings_2012.