Latest News      Click here to read more about the U.S. News rankings

Sept. 2, 2005                    

Morningside College receives two “Best College” designations

Morningside College has received two designations as a “Best College.” The college was designated one of the Midwest's "Best Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor’s" in the U.S.News & World Report’s 2006 college rankings, published on Aug. 18, 2005, and also was designated a “Best Midwestern College” by The Princeton Review.

Morningside, one of only 11 private colleges in Iowa to make the U.S. News “Top Schools” Midwest list, was also listed as one of the top 100 campuses among the comprehensive colleges-bachelor’s category with the most international students. The college has 26 international students enrolled for this academic year and had 23 international students enrolled for the 2004-05 academic year.

Morningside was one of 158 Midwestern schools that received the “Best in the Midwest” designation from The Princeton Review. Only 16 private and public schools in Iowa received this designation.

“Our goal is to be one of the best private residential colleges in the Midwest, and I believe these designations reflect the dedication and hard work of our faculty, staff, and board of directors,” said Morningside President John Reynders. “We will continue to strive to provide a top-notch educational experience that prepares our students to be tomorrow’s leaders, to give back to their communities, and to have successful and meaningful lives.”

This year is the second consecutive year that Morningside has received the “Best College” designation from U.S. News and the third consecutive year that Morningside has received the “Best Midwestern College” designation from The Princeton Review.

The U.S. News rankings for the comprehensive colleges-bachelor’s category, according to the magazine’s Web site at www.usnews.com, are based on weights assigned to key indicators that fall into six broad areas, including peer assessment, assigned a weight of 25 percent; retention and graduation of students, 25 percent; faculty resources, 20 percent; student selectivity, 15 percent; financial resources, 10 percent; and alumni giving, 5 percent.

The Princeton Review rankings are based upon, first, meeting certain standards for academic excellence within a region, and, second, anonymous student opinion surveys that the company conducts during campus visits or electronically via its Web site at www.princetonreview.com. The survey includes 70 questions on quality of life, academics, and financial aid.

The Princeton Review’s Midwestern region includes 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The company was founded in 1981 and assists high school students in their college search.