SEARCY, Ark. — Harding University has been ranked one of the best master’s universities in the nation in Washington Monthly magazine’s 2010 college guide.
Schools are rated based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories including social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and doctorates) and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).
Harding was ranked 39th in the nation and was the only Arkansas university included in the top 50.
Washington Monthly began ranking colleges in 2005 with the “idea to upend the traditional notion of a college guide.” Instead of looking at what colleges are doing for their students — as other ranking systems do — the guide looks at what colleges are doing for the country. (www.washingtonmonthly.com)
The magazine ranked master’s and baccalaureate institutions for the first time this year, avoiding regional categories in order to give readers a true comparison of colleges nationwide. All three main categories — social mobility, research and service — were weighed equally in measuring each school.
The community service component considered several factors such as the number of alumni serving in the Peace Corps; the percentage of federal work-study grant money spent on community service projects; the number of students participating in community service and the total hours performed; the number of full-time staff supporting service efforts and several other criteria.
The measure of students participating in community service and institutional support for community service were two new criteria introduced to this year’s rankings. The information used was based on data reported to the Corporation for National and Community Service by colleges and universities in their applications for the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Harding has been named to the honor roll for four consecutive years. Last year nearly 6,500 students, faculty and staff contributed more than 89,000 hours to community service.
The research component included a measure of the total amount of an institution’s research spending and the school’s ranking in the number of bachelor’s recipients who go on to receive a Ph.D., relative to school size. Harding ranked 15th in the bachelor’s-to-Ph.D. category.
The social mobility category examined factors such as the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants and compared the predicted and actual graduation rates. The difference between the actual graduation rate and the predicted rate shows the measure of how well the school performs as an engine of social mobility. The higher the number, the better. Harding scored 331 in social mobility.
“Harding University is annually recognized by organizations such as U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review as one of the best colleges in the South,” said Dr. Jim Carr, Harding executive vice president. “To be recognized by Washington Monthly as one of the best in the entire nation based on factors such as our commitment to service learning is truly an honor.”
For more information on Washington Monthly and its college guide, visit www.washingtonmonthly.com.
Harding is the largest private university in Arkansas and attracts more National Merit Scholars than any other private university in the state. Harding also maintains campuses in Australia, Chile, England, France/Switzerland, Greece, Italy and Zambia.
