The results are in, and “America’s Best Colleges 2008” has offered SCU high marks—for the 18th year in a row. Santa Clara ranked second overall among 127 master’s universities in the West in the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking of the country’s colleges and universities.
SCU is ranked against other similar comprehensive universities that offer a full range of undergraduate programs and master’s degrees, but few doctoral programs; the Western region includes schools from Colorado to the West Coast, including Texas. Joining SCU in the West’s top 10 this year are Jesuit schools Gonzaga and Seattle University, and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Of master’s universities in the West, Santa Clara is also listed among the top 15 in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category.
Santa Clara continues to have the highest average freshman retention rate—93 percent—in its class, and boasts the second-highest peer assessment score. SCU’s average undergraduate graduation rate, 85 percent, ranks nationally as the second highest of all 574 master’s level universities. The School of Engineering is No. 20 among the top 87 engineering schools in the country that focus on undergraduate and master’s engineering programs. And a section titled “Programs to Look For” commends SCU’s residential learning communities, where students in residence halls take some courses as a group to get to know one another and their professors better. —DA & SS