MACON – Mercer University debuted at No. 135 in U.S. News & World Report's national universities rankings, released on Tuesday, joining Emory, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia as the only institutions in the state to be ranked in the top tier. The No. 135 ranking places Mercer among the top 75 private universities in the country, according to U.S. News.
Additionally, Mercer is ranked by the magazine as the No. 24 best value among the 310 national universities, coming in one spot ahead of the University of Notre Dame. Mercer and Emory are the only two Georgia institutions ranked among the top 50 best values in this category.
For the previous 17 years, the University has been featured in the publication as a top 10 regional university in the South. A near doubling in research expenditures and a significant increase in the number of doctoral programs over the past decade resulted in Mercer being reclassified last year as a “doctoral university with moderate research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Consequently, U.S. News elevated Mercer to its national universities category, which includes the premier universities in the United States. The 310 institutions ranked as national universities are evaluated based upon factors such as peer assessment, freshman retention, graduation rate, class size, student-faculty ratio, academic profile of entering class, acceptance rate and alumni giving.
The best value rankings take into account an institution's academic quality and the 2015-16 net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.
The Mercer School of Engineering's undergraduate program, which consistently ranks among the nation's top engineering programs that have bachelor's or master's as their terminal degrees, is ranked No. 42 based on surveys of engineering deans and senior faculty at accredited programs.
To view the rankings and see more information on U.S. News and World Report's ranking methodology, visit usnews.com/colleges.
