Brown, URI slip as Bryant, RIC gain in 2015 national college rankings

BROWN UNIVERSITY RANKED No. 16 in the 2015 U.S. News and and World Report Best Colleges list. Last year, its rank was No. 14.
BROWN UNIVERSITY RANKED No. 16 in the 2015 U.S. News and and World Report Best Colleges list. Last year, its rank was No. 14.

PROVIDENCE – Brown University and the University of Rhode Island slipped in rankings included in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2015 Best Colleges list released Monday, but Bryant University, Johnson & Wales University and Rhode Island College improved their standings.

Brown, which was ranked No. 14 last year in the national universities category, now ranks at No. 16. URI, which was at No. 152, now ranks at No. 161 in the same category.

National universities are defined in the report as offering a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and doctoral programs, while producing groundbreaking research.

The Ivy League Brown, in its mission statement included in the report, has a “signature academic program for undergraduates” that encourages “intellectual exploration and risk taking.” URI was described in its mission statement as the “largest university in the nation’s smallest state” with more than 13,000 undergraduates and 3,000 graduate student.

- Advertisement -

In the North regional universities ranking, Providence College stayed the same at No. 2, Bryant inched up three spaces to No. 11 from No. 14 last year, Johnson & Wales went from No. 74 to No. 65 and Rhode Island College moved up to No. 122, four spots higher than last year’s placement. In that same category, Roger Williams University was No. 41 (compared with No. 37 last year) and Salve Regina University was No. 50 (No. 43 last year).

Regional universities offer a full range of undergraduate programs and some master’s programs but few doctoral programs, according to the report.

U.S. News based the annual rankings on analysis of approximately 1,800 school’s missions and programs, including graduation rate data, tuition, class sizes, acceptance rates, average debt, retention rates, faculty resources and more.

The New England Institute of Technology was unranked in the regional colleges category; the Rhode Island School of Design also was unranked in the art schools category.

Nearby, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth stayed the same at No. 87 in the regional universities category. In the national liberal arts colleges category, Stonehill College improved to No. 105 from No.115 and Wheaton College dipped four spots to No. 69 from No. 65 last year.

Liberal arts colleges emphasize undergraduate education, awarding at least 50 percent of degrees in liberal arts, according to the report.

To view the full report, visit http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges.

No posts to display