Carleton Ranked Fifth Among Best Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News & World Report

August 19, 2004
By Sarah Maxwell

Carleton College placed fifth overall in U.S. News & World Report magazine’s annual rankings of the best national liberal arts colleges. The College also ranked first in alumni giving, a measure of alumni satisfaction with the school, for the third consecutive year.

“What we work on weekly, monthly, annually, and over the years here at Carleton is offering as fine a liberal arts education as we can offer,” said President Robert A. Oden Jr. “It is a richly deserved honor to the people who are Carleton when any national ranking recognizes the quality of education we offer here.”

This is the fourth consecutive year that the magazine has ranked Carleton in the top five, and the ninth consecutive year in the top 10. The rankings take into account the academic reputation of the school, admissions selectivity, retention and graduation rates, class size, financial resources and alumni giving, among other factors. Carleton’s overall score was 92 on a scale of 100, and the College received a score of 4.4 on a 5.0 scale in peer assessment, which is an evaluation of the academic reputation of the school by presidents, provosts and admissions deans from similar colleges.

Alumni giving is a key factor in determining the overall ranking, as it is a measure of how alumni feel about the College. Sixty-six percent of alumni contributed to the Alumni Annual Fund in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003.

“The participation in the Alumni Annual Fund is an important measure for Carleton because it is a key indicator of our graduates’ satisfaction with their Carleton education,” Oden said. “The dedication of our staff and faculty shows up with special clarity here, and we are again most grateful to them for all they do to make Carleton the College it is.”

Carleton also was singled out by the magazine for having several special programs that lead to student success. These include the senior capstone, undergraduate research/ creative projects, study abroad and writing in the disciplines.

Carleton is the only Midwestern college in the top 10 schools. The other top national liberal arts colleges this year are Williams College in Massachusetts (first) Amherst College in Massachusetts (second), Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania (second) and Wellesley College in Massachusetts (fourth). Carleton tied with Pomona College in California for fifth place.