Alverno College was ranked in the top four Midwest schools for its “strong commitment to teaching” in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 America’s Best Colleges guidebook. In the three-year history of this category, Alverno College is the only Wisconsin college to receive this recognition in the Midwest Regional standings each year.

College presidents, provosts and admissions deans were asked to “identify schools where the faculty have an unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.” This marks the 12th consecutive year U.S. News & World Report has recognized Alverno in its annual rankings. In addition, Alverno has been listed 29 times in the highly respected U.S. News & World Report standings since 1983. 

“Knowing that our colleagues at other colleges selected us for this distinction is quite humbling. We are proud that Alverno College is being recognized,” said Mary J. Meehan, Ph. D., president of Alverno College. “Teaching and learning are central to our mission, and our incredible faculty and staff are invested in the success of each and every one of our students. These rankings are a credit to them.”

Alverno College was also recognized in the three categories below – and was the only Wisconsin college or university listed in “Senior Capstone.”

First-Year Experience:  Schools nominated “build into the curriculum first-year seminars or other academic programs that bring small groups of students together with faculty or staff on a regular basis.”

Learning Communities: Schools nominated ensured students get to take “two or more linked courses as a group and get to know one another and their professors well.”

Senior Capstone: Schools nominated excelled at asking “students nearing the end of their college years to create a project that integrates what they’ve learned.”

With these rankings, Alverno College is in the company of such prestigious schools as Princeton University, Brown University, Purdue University, Stanford University, University of Notre Dame and Yale University.

Overall, Alverno College remained in tier one in the category of Master’s granting colleges and universities.

This is the 29th edition of the U.S. News & World Report annual college rankings. The rankings are published in the September issue, in a separate college guidebook, and posted online at usnews.com. The rankings measure up to 15 academic performance indicators for each institution. Quantitative data that assess a college’s performance in areas such as graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, financial resources, student selectivity and alumni giving account for 75 percent of a college’s score. The other 25 percent is based on a peer assessment survey the magazine sends to top officials at each school asking them to rate the other colleges in the country.

About Alverno College

Alverno College, a four-year independent, Catholic, liberal arts college for women, exists to promote the personal and professional development of its students. The college has earned accolades and respect internationally for its highly effective ability-based, assessment-as-learning approach to education, and has consulted with three U.S. presidential administrations on accountability and outcomes in higher education. For two years in a row, Alverno College was ranked first in the Midwest for doing “the best job of educating undergrads” by U.S. News & World Report.  Educators from throughout the world visit Alverno to learn about its proven, student-centered teaching methods.

Alverno offers more than 35 major program areas of study, including graduate programs in education, nursing, community psychology and business that are open to women and men. For more information about Alverno, visit our website at www.alverno.edu or call 414-382-6100.