Ithaca College Ranked in Top 10 by U.S. News & World Report

By Dave Maley, September 13, 2021
IC named among best for teaching, value, and innovation.

In its just-released “Best Colleges 2022” edition, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Ithaca College as the #10 Best University among the 171 institutions of its kind in the North. IC was also recognized for the quality of its undergraduate teaching, for providing a great value, and for being innovative.

U.S. News & World Report evaluates colleges and universities using statistical measures in nine broad categories that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality: social mobility, first-year student retention and graduation of students, graduate indebtedness, expert opinion, faculty resources, student excellence, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance.

The indicators include input measures, which reflect the quality of students, faculty, and other resources used in education, and outcome measures, which signal how well the institution educates its student body.

The publication also gave Ithaca College particularly high marks in several special categories:

  • #3 for Best Undergraduate Teaching, a list that identifies schools that have a strong commitment to teaching undergraduates.
  • #10 for Best Value, which takes into account a school’s academic quality and the net cost of attendance, meaning the school provides a quality education at an affordable cost: The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.
  • #14 for Most Innovative Schools, signifying the institutions that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology, or facilities.

“The IC community should be rightfully proud of this honor, which recognizes the deep commitment we all continue to make to ensure a high-quality educational experience that is also accessible and affordable to students and their families,” said Ithaca College Interim President La Jerne Terry Cornish. “Indeed, this is yet another affirmation of the accomplishments—both inside and outside the classroom—of our tremendously talented faculty, staff, and students.”

Ithaca College has been regularly ranked in the top 10 on the U.S. News list of regional universities, which the publication says are those that offer a broad scope of undergraduate degrees and some master’s degree programs, but few, if any, doctoral programs (Ithaca College offers one doctoral program). For this category, the rankings are divided into four regions — North, South, Midwest and West. The magazine also has separate rankings for national universities, national liberal arts colleges, and regional colleges.

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For more information on the rankings, visit usnews.com/best-colleges.