With the 2014-15 academic year underway, Maryville College is enjoying recognitions and rankings from various national publications, including Washington Monthly, The Princeton Review, Colleges of Distinction, Forbes and U.S News & World Report.

“We are grateful to the various publications that include Maryville College among the schools that they cover, and we are proud of our record of accomplishing our mission to prepare students for lives of citizenship and leadership,” said Maryville College President Dr. William T. “Tom” Bogart. “However, colleges are multidimensional, so any single ranking or comparison is not going to give the entire picture. I encourage students and their families to visit schools in order to find the one that is the best fit for them.”

Washington Monthly ranks MC among top liberal arts colleges
In its September/October issue, Washington Monthly, a bimonthly nonprofit magazine that covers United States politics and government, has ranked the College No. 85 in its list of top liberal arts colleges. Only two other schools in Tennessee were listed higher: Rhodes College in Memphis and Fisk University in Nashville.

“Our rankings have always rejected the idea that expense, luxury, and exclusivity should be held up as the highest values for colleges and students to aspire to,” reads the online introduction to the rankings. “Instead, we ask a different question: What are colleges doing for the country?

“Higher education, after all, doesn’t just affect students. We all benefit when colleges produce groundbreaking research that drives economic growth, when they put students from lower-income families on the path to a better life, and when they shape the character of future leaders.”

Specifically, Washington Monthly rates schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

MC was ranked No. 9 overall in the category for community service participation and hours served. It is estimated that Maryville College students complete 2,000 hours of community service every week.

MC was also ranked No. 23 overall in the category for service staff, courses and financial aid support.

MC named a “Best Southeastern College” by The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review has named Maryville College a “Best Southeastern College” based on results from its “2015 Best Colleges” survey.

The 195-year-old liberal arts college is one of the 139 institutions recommended by the education services company in its “Best Southeastern” section of its website feature, “2015 Best Colleges: Region by Region,” which was posted on PrincetonReview.com.

The survey focuses on the best colleges in four regions: Northeastern, Western, Midwestern and Southeastern. The company identified 648 colleges “that we consider academically outstanding and well worth consideration in your college search,” according to The Princeton Review’s website.

The colleges selected had to meet two criteria: first, colleges had to meet The Princeton Review’s standards for academic excellence, and second, the organization had to have the ability to independently survey the college’s students through an online survey.

“We greatly value what students report to us about their experiences at their colleges, just as you would take into account comments you learn from students on a campus visit,” The Princeton Review’s website states. “Only schools that permit us to survey their students are eligible for consideration for our regional ‘best’ designations.”

The 138 colleges chosen for The Princeton Review’s “Best in the Southeast” designations are located in 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

MC named a ‘College of Distinction’
Maryville College has been named a “College of Distinction” for the 2014-2015 school year and is now featured on CollegesofDistinction.com, a website and corresponding e-guidebook dedicated to honoring schools nationwide for their excellence in undergraduate-focused higher education.

“Schools designated as ‘Colleges of Distinction’ offer innovative learning experiences that educate, nurture and transform students,” said Tyson Schritter, executive editor of Colleges of Distinction.

Maryville College is one of a select group of colleges to earn this prestigious designation, based on its excellence in Four Distinctions: engaged students, great teaching, vibrant campus communities and successful outcomes.

High school college counselors and educators nominate colleges and universities for recognition by Colleges of Distinction, which then evaluates each school based on qualitative and quantitative research. The colleges and universities are not ranked and instead are members of a consortium of other equally impressive schools.

Colleges of Distinction looks beyond rankings and test scores to find colleges that are the ideal places to learn, grow and succeed. The selection process reviews such factors as the school’s first year experience, general education program, experiential components of the curriculum, the strategic plan and alumni success and satisfaction.

“We focus on colleges that are deeply dedicated to students’ learning,” Schritter said.

Other Tennessee schools recognized as a “College of Distinction” include Belmont University, Carson-Newman University, Lipscomb University, Rhodes College and Sewanee: The University of the South.

To view Maryville College’s profile or to find more information about the online guide, visit www.CollegesofDistinction.com.

MC included in Forbes listing of top colleges and universities
Maryville College is listed among 650 colleges and universities in Forbes’ “America’s Top Colleges” report.

“This year it comes down to small, student-centric, liberal arts colleges vs. large, brainy, research-oriented universities closely associated with science, technology, engineering and math,” reads the online introduction to the rankings by Caroline Howard. “The Forbes 7th annual ‘Top Colleges’ ranking reveals higher education in flux, ongoing debate between the value of liberal arts vs. STEM degrees and a winning formula of high student satisfaction and graduation rates, alumni career success and low student debt.”

Forbes partnered with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) to evaluate the nation’s colleges and universities.

“What sets our calculation of 650 colleges and universities apart from other rankings is our firm belief in ‘output’ over ‘input,” the introduction continues. “Our sights are set directly on ROI: What are students getting out of college.”

MC listed among U.S. News & World Report’s ‘best colleges’
Maryville College has been listed in U.S. News & World Report’s second tier of national liberal arts colleges in the magazine’s “Best Colleges 2015” guidebook.

The most complete version of the new rankings, data, tables and lists – including extensive statistical profiles for each school and a search tool to enable prospective students and parents to find the college that best fits their needs – is available on the magazine’s website, www.usnews.com/colleges. The guidebook is expected to hit newsstands on Sept. 30.

U.S. News & World Report defines “liberal arts colleges” as those institutions with an emphasis on undergraduate education and a practice of awarding at least half of their degrees in the arts and sciences, which include such disciplines as English, the biological and physical sciences, history, foreign languages and the visual and performing arts but exclude professional disciplines such as business, education and nursing.

Williams College and Amherst College, both in Massachusetts, topped the list.