OK, here’s the deal:
The *Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College: What to Look For and Where to Find It * lists only 21 institutions of higher learning in the US and Canada, 20 in the US, that it finds acceptable.
I looked up these 20 in the** US News & World Report’**s comprehensive review of 1400 institutions of higher learning in the US. The survey ranks according to 15 indicators of academic excellence. Selection criteria and weighting are explained in detail on the website and in print. You can access the 2009 premium online edition until Aug. 19 for about $8.00 and the 2010 ed. online(good for 1 year) for about $15.00. There’s a lot more info in the ‘premium’ ed. For a special price you can purchase the online premium and the book, which is about 2 inches thick.
Parenthetically, there is probably little difference between a #1 and a #10 ranking, or a #10 and a #20. However, there is probably going to be a difference between a #10 and a #40. Students will probably find that personal preference, cost, location and availability of preferred courses and majors are going to be important factors in selecting a school.
The breakdown in classifying institutions into types is:
Liberal Arts Colleges–undergraduates with bachelor’s degree in the liberal arts, large selection of majors.
National Universities–offer full undergraduate majors, and awards bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D’s.
Universities-Master’s level-- lots of undergraduate majors and backelor’s degrees, some master’s, few doctoral. Borken up into North, South, Midwest and South. Four tiers, the first tier ranked, possibly also the second. Third and fourth tiers not ranked.
Baccalaureate Colleges and Universities--award less than 50% degrees in the liberal arts. Also divided by regions: North, South, Midwest and West.
Unranked schools don’t use SAT or ACT scores; have enrollments of less than 200; don’t have any first year students, or enroll mostly non-traditional students. Unlisted schools may not have responded; the response rate was about 93%.
Of the 20 school listed in Newman’s Guide, the highest ranks are:
Catholic University of America-–National Universities, tier 1, rank # 116 (out of about 125 total). Tied with Loyola-Chicago. (Notre Dame is #18). CUA was the only Newman school ranked in the list of National Universities.
Thomas Aquinas, CA–Liberal Arts Colleges tier 1, rank #60. TA was the only Newman school ranked in the list of Liberal Arts Colleges.
All of the 18 other schools were ranked in the regional Universities-Master’s; Baccalaureate Colleges; unranked or not listed.
In approximate orders of rank:
University of Dallas, TX–University-Master’s-West–tier 1, #13
University St. Thomas, TX–University-Master’s-West–tier 1, #24
Mt. St. Mary’s University, MD–University-Master’s-North–tier 1, #26
**Franciscan University, **OH–University-Master’s-Midwest–tier 1, #28
DeSales University, PA–University-Master’s-North–tier 1, # 52
Benedictine University, KS–University-Master’s-Midwest, tier 1, #67
Belmont Abbey College, NC–Baccalaureate Colleges -South-tier 1, #28
St. Gregory’s University, OK–Baccalaureate Colleges-West–tier 3
Aquinas College, TN–Baccalaureate Colleges–South-- tier 4
The following are** unranked or not listed:**
Many of these are new schools and are not accredited, although many are seeking local accreditation, according to their websites. Many do not offer a standard liberal arts curriculum.
Ave Maria University, FL–not listed, not accredited.
Holy Apostles Seminary & College, CT–unranked. The college is mainly a commuter school; the curriculum appears designed mainly for the seminary.
John Paul the Great, CA–not listed. New, not accredited, offers degrees in business, media, technology.
Southern Catholic College, GA–not listed, not accredited.
Wyoming Catholic College, WY—not listed, not accredited. Limited curriculum, includes the Great Books.
St. Thomas More College, TX–unranked.
Magdalen College, NH–unranked.
Thomas More College, NH–unranked.
Christendom College, VA–unranked.
The schools I previously mentioned are not included in the Newman Guide, but are ranked as follows:
College of St. Catherine (part of University of St. C), MN-- University-Master’s-Midwest, tier 1, #14 (this is just behind Univ of Dallas, TX)
St. John’s University, MN–Liberal Arts Colleges, tier 1, #71
College of St. Benedict, MN–Liberal Arts Colleges, tier 1, #84
