America’s Best Colleges ranks ECSU third

Kesha Williams
September 05, 2008

America’s Best Colleges has recently published its rankings of the nation’s colleges and universities. Elizabeth City State University ranked #3 in the category of Top Public Baccalaureate Colleges in the South ECSU tied with Winston Salem State University for the twelfth spot among Historically Black Colleges and Universities. ECSU shares the #26 slot with Brescia University in Kentucky in the Best Baccalaureate Colleges the South category. The annual report of college rankings is published by U.S. News and World Report Magazine. It has become a research tool highly regarded by parents, students, educators and many more. Categories are arranged to indicate the various levels of excellence at which the institutions are achieving. U.S. New and World Report collects data from 1,400 colleges before making their selections. For many parents who still pay in part or in full for their youth’s education, the rankings can indicate a university that offers the best package for the family budget. ECSU Chancellor Willie J. Gilchrist said America’s Best Colleges’ report confirms the extensive efforts made at ECSU to offer students an outstanding educational experience. &quotWe credit faculty and staff for working so diligently to prepare our students for the future. We are offering more of the programs that will place our students in demand-programs like aviation science, biology, education, math and computer science. Many of the students from those departments have graduated from ECSU and entered graduate programs where they are excelling. Many have completed graduate school and gone on to have rewarding careers,&quot Gilchrist said. &quotThe scores from America’s Best Colleges are significant. We realize that parents and prospective students consult the report in their search for a university where the students will enroll and graduate. ECSU continues to offer one of the most affordable packages in the state of North Carolina. We want parents and students to remember a great college education is within reach at ECSU.&quot According to U.S. News and World Report, this is the second time the agency has ranked Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The agency reports: &quotThe indicators we use to capture academic quality fall into seven categories: assessment by administrators at peer institutions, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving. The indicators include input measures that reflect a school’s student body, its faculty, and its financial resources, along with outcome measures that signal how well the institution does its job of educating students.&quot Chancellor Gilchrist said ECSU is steadily making strides to improve but is encouraged by its rank in this category as well. &quotMany of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities that are ranked higher than ECSU are private schools or larger schools that have excelled for years and they have more financial resources that we do. Ranking just outside that top 10, is a strong indicator we are well meeting the needs of students who specifically want that HBCU experience while earning a degree.&quot As for the 26th ranking in the Best Baccalaureate Colleges the South category, Chancellor Gilchrist is encouraged to rank among so many outstanding universities offering the bachelor’s degree. U. S. News and World Report defines Baccalaureate Colleges as&quot institutions [that] focus primarily on undergraduate education, just as the liberal arts colleges do but grant fewer than 50 percent of their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. At these schools, at least 10 percent of undergraduate degrees awarded are bachelor’s degrees. There are 319 baccalaureate colleges, ranked within four regions: North, South, Midwest, and West.&quot