U.S. News & World Report has again named Nebraska Wesleyan University a top national liberal arts university.
The rankings, announced Tuesday, September 9, listed NWU among the top 165 liberal arts colleges in the nation. There are approximately 600 liberal arts colleges in the country. Nebraska Wesleyan ranked 148 — the highest ranked liberal arts college in Nebraska.
U.S. News & World Report compares nearly 1,400 colleges and universities in the country. The colleges and universities are divided into categories that reflect the school’s size and philosophy. U.S. News & World Report uses a variety of input data for consideration including student-faculty ratio, graduate rate, retention rate, peer assessment, financial resources, among others.
“We are proud to be recognized as a top national liberal arts university,” said President Fred Ohles. “However, for colleges, it’s the outcomes that really matter. And it's our outcomes that are truly great."
For example, Nebraska Wesleyan has consistently been named among the nation’s top Fulbright Scholarship producers among all bachelor’s degree institutions in the country. In the last 10 years, 32 NWU students have won a Fulbright Scholarship, the country’s flagship international program. NWU students continue to win other national prestigious scholarships including a Rhodes Scholarship, two Goldwater Scholarships, and four Truman Scholarships, among others in the last 10 years.
Nebraska Wesleyan also ranks among the all-time leaders in the entire nation — regardless of division — with 99 student athletes who have won 147 Academic All-American awards, ranking NWU eighth in the nation. Nebraska Wesleyan also ranks sixth among all schools in the number of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.
Other outcomes worth celebrating, said Ohles, include the university’s 86% medical school placement rate, and a new, innovative curriculum that has 100% of all NWU students completing internships, service learning projects, research or international study.
“These experiences and outcomes have historically led to great graduate school placements and jobs for our students,” said Ohles.