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Top 25 of 2012: Washington Monthly rankings

December 23, 2012

Cover of Washington Monthly magazineAs 2012 draws to a close, NIU Today is offering a look back at 25 of the top stories from the year.

No. 8

When it comes to ranking colleges, academic excellence is important – but is hardly the only measure that matters.

So say the publishers of Washington Monthly’s College Guide and Rankings. They choose to rank colleges not solely upon how well they educate students, but rather upon how well they serve society.

NIU ranked 143rd – with the same overall score as St.Louis University, Boston College, Old Dominion University, Pepperdine University and San Diego State – among 281 public and private national universities ranked.

Only the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and UIC ranked higher than NIU among the state’s public universities on the list. Only three of NIU’s Mid-American Conference counterparts ranked higher: Western Michigan University (90), Miami University (119) and the University of Toledo (132).

NIU gained high marks for social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students); research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs) and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country.

The complete story is available online.