Wilson College earns high rankings from magazine

CHAMBERSBURG - Wilson College offers a high-quality education at a reasonable price, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2008 "America's Best Colleges" issue, which names Wilson a "Top Tier" and "Best Value" college. The magazine, which will be available on newsstands Aug. 20, rates Wilson slightly higher in the rankings than the previous year.

Wilson ranked 16th overall in the category of Best Baccalaureate Colleges focused on undergraduate education in the northern region, up from a ranking of 18th in the category last year. It is the fifth consecutive year the Wilson has been recognized as a Top Tier college. U.S. News examined a total of 70 colleges in the northern region to determine the rankings.

U.S. News uses a variety of data to calculate the best colleges rankings, including such factors as assessments by administrators at peer institutions, freshman retention rates, graduation rates, student faculty ratios, student SAT/ACT scores, acceptance rates and alumni giving rates.

For the seventh straight year, Wilson also has been honored as a Best Value College in the North, ranking sixth among colleges offering bachelor's degrees. The college was ranked seventh last year in that category, which indicates a high-quality education at an affordable cost.

In addition, Wilson's studentteacher ratio of 10-1 gave it a tie for third among baccalaureate colleges in the northern region in highest proportion of classes with fewer than 20 students. Two other colleges tied for second. Wilson was also third in the category last year.

"Wilson remains deeply committed to offering a personalized educational experience that is both high in quality and affordable," said Dr. Lorna Edmundson, president of Wilson College. "Students and families deserve both."

The formula used by U.S. News to determine Best Value Colleges relates a school's academic quality to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of needbased financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal, according to U.S News.

In the Best Value category for northern colleges offering bachelor's degrees, Wilson's ranking of sixth among 10 colleges (only schools ranked in the top half of their categories are included) shows that 72 percent of its students receive aid, for an average discount of 42 percent.

Wilson College annually awards students more than $9.5 million in financial aid, according to Mary Ann Naso, vice president for enrollment.

"The college is committed to making this excellent education affordable to good students," Naso said.

The U.S. News & World Report's 2008 "America's Best Colleges" issue is a useful guide for parents and students, helping them sort through the myriad of postsecondary school options to select colleges that are best suited for them.