Saint Leo University was named as one of the best regional universities and best values in higher education in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, which was released last week.
Saint Leo ranked 61st among regional universities in the South, which marks an uptick from its previous ranking of 62nd. In addition, the university was named as one of the Best Value Regional Universities–South.
“We at Saint Leo are proud of our mission as a welcoming, inclusive, student-centered university. Everyone at the university is committed to helping our students succeed—both in the classroom and in the real world,” said Dr. William J. Lennox Jr., university president. “We are pleased to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report. These rankings speak to the high-quality, high-value education that students and parents have come to expect at Saint Leo.”
The U.S. News & World Report rankings methodology focuses on academic excellence, with schools evaluated on hundreds of data points and up to 15 measures of academic quality.
Saint Leo prides itself on being selected as a best value school. 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 taken into account, according to U.S. News.
Those schools included in the regional universities category offer a full range of undergraduate programs and offer graduate programs at the master’s level, according to U.S. News, although they offer few if any doctoral programs. Saint Leo offers a Doctor of Business Administration degree. Of the 659 regional universities ranked, 259 are public, 388 are private (including Saint Leo), and 12 are for-profit.
U.S. News uses several criteria to measure academic quality and rank universities. These include freshman retention and graduation of students; peer assessment; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; alumni giving; and graduation rate performance.
About Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University (www.saintleo.edu) is a modern Catholic teaching university that is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and the timeless Benedictine wisdom that seeks balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit. The Saint Leo University of today is a private, nonprofit institution that creates hospitable learning communities wherever students want to be or need to be, whether that is a campus classroom, a web-based environment, an employer’s worksite, a military base, or an office park. Saint Leo welcomes people of all faiths and of no religious affiliation, and encourages learners of all generations. The university is committed to providing educational opportunities to the nation’s armed forces, veterans, and their families. Saint Leo is regionally accredited to award degrees ranging from the associate to the doctorate, and the faculty and staff guide all students to develop their capacities for critical thinking, moral reflection, and lifelong learning and leadership.
The university remains the faithful steward of the beautiful lakeside University Campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, where its founding monks created the first Catholic college in the state in 1889. Serving nearly 15,000 students, Saint Leo has expanded to downtown Tampa, to other sites in Florida and beyond, and maintains a physical presence in seven states. The university provides highly respected online learning programs to students nationally and internationally. More than 85,000 alumni reside in all 50 states, in Washington, DC, in three U.S. territories, and in 76 countries.
Contact
Mary McCoy
University Writer & Media Relations
mary.mccoy02@saintleo.edu
