Catawba College continues to be ranked as one of the nation’s Best Regional Colleges, according to the 2012 edition of “Best Colleges,” published by U.S.News & World Report and released today. Catawba ranked 16th among 99 of these Best Regional Colleges in the South.
In total, 371 colleges are ranked as “Best Regional Colleges” according to geographic region (North, South, Midwest and West). Highlights of these rankings are published in the magazine available this month on newsstands and available online at www.usnews.com/colleges.
In recent years, Catawba has consistently placed in the U.S. News rankings. According to U.S. News, Regional Colleges “focus almost entirely on undergraduate experience and offer a broad range of programs in the liberal arts (which account for fewer than half of all bachelor’s degrees granted) and in fields such as business, nursing and education.” Most of the Regional Colleges draw heavily from nearby states and grant few graduate degrees.
The U.S. News rankings for Regional Universities and Regional Colleges are based on several key measures of quality with 25 percent weight given to peer assessment, 25 percent to graduation and retention rates, 20 percent to faculty resources, 15 percent to student selectivity, 10 percent to financial resources, and 5 percent to alumni giving.
The weekly national news magazine U.S.News & World Report has been widely recognized for its annual “Best Colleges” edition. Founded in 1933, U.S. News & World Report is devoted to reporting and analyzing national and international affairs, politics, business, health, science, technology and social trends.
For four consecutive years, Catawba College has been named one of the nation’s Best Music Schools by In Tune magazine. Catawba was one of only 45 institutions included in the magazine’s listing of The Best Music Schools of 2012.
Catawba offers a bachelor’s degree in music with concentrations in music business, music education, music performance, popular music and sacred music, and offers a bachelor’s degree in musical theatre.
In Tune’s Best Music Schools for 2012 special feature was included in the October 2011 edition of the magazine. The publication is a classroom magazine for music students, grades 7-12. In Tune was founded in 2003 by veteran Billboard, Forbes and Business Week publishing executive Irwin Kornfeld, former Musician, EQ and Gig magazines publisher Angelo Biasi, and Grammy-winning music producer Will Edwards.