(Seguin) — TLU not only has again earned top honors nationally for being one of the best colleges in the West but it has also picked up two new additional rankings. According to U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” rankings among regional colleges in the West, Texas Lutheran University ranked second on the list for “Best Value,” and fourth overall. This is the fifth consecutive year TLU has been featured on the “Best Value” rankings. Other notable recognitions include TLU’s ranking as No. 19 in Ethnic Diversity and No. 5 for Top Performers on Social Mobility-a new category added for 2020.
TLU President Dr. Debbie Cottrell says this kind of external recognition underscores the important work that TLU does.
“It is especially good to see our strong showing in value, diversity, and social mobility, linking to our ongoing attention to access and affordability,” said Dr. Cottrell.
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. 2 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 that they dispense, 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).
New for the 2020 edition, data sourced from the federal government was used for non-responders. In addition to these accolades, TLU was recently named a 2019 Great Colleges to Work For® by The Chronicle of Higher Education.