University is also No. 5 “Best Regional College” in the West
(Seguin) – You apparently get more bang for your buck while attending Texas Lutheran University. TLU is again in the national spotlight when it comes to value.
TLU is an official U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” selection among regional colleges in the West, ranking first on the list for “Best Value,” and fifth overall. This is the seventh consecutive year TLU has been featured on the “Best Value” rankings, once again returning to the No. 1 spot.
Other notable recognitions include TLU’s acknowledgment as a top 20 regional college for Social Mobility—the third year the university has appeared in this category.
“External recognitions of this nature speak to TLU’s many strengths,” said TLU President Dr. Debbie Cottrell. “Recognition in the categories of Best Value and Social Mobility certainly connect to the mission and values of our university.”
Rankings are based on data collected from several categories, including academic reputation, admissions selectivity, faculty resources, retention, graduation rates and alumni support.
U.S. News & World Report then ranks colleges and universities based upon region and classification. Regional schools focus almost entirely on the undergraduate experience and offer a broad range of programs in the liberal arts and in fields such as business, nursing, and education.
TLU earns the No. 1 spot in the West for “Best Value” based on its high overall ranking combined with modest net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid.
According to U.S. News & World Report, these are schools that are above average academically and cost considerably less than many other schools when the financial aid they award, in the form of need-based grants and scholarships, is considered. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, because the publication considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.
Social mobility measures how well schools graduated students who received federal Pell Grants (those typically coming from households whose family incomes are less than $50,000 annually, though most Pell Grant money goes to students with a total family income below $20,000).