LaGrange College named top 10, ‘best value’ by U.S. News
Aug. 20, 2009

LaGrange College has moved up in the top 10 this year in U.S.News & World Report’s annual evaluation of American colleges and universities, and was named a “best value” for the 10th straight year.

The college ranked sixth overall in the magazine’s listing of “Southern Baccalaureate Colleges,” and was singled out as one of 10 best values in the 96-school category that stretches over 12 states.

Earlier this month, Forbes Magazine also named LaGrange College as one of “America’s best,” ranking it 148th among 600 schools nationwide.

“We are always honored when national magazines such as U.S.News & World Report and Forbes recognize us as one of the country’s top schools,” LaGrange College President Dan McAlexander said.

Of particular significance is the college’s designation by U.S.News as a best value for the 10th straight year. Coming in at number six, LaGrange College is the highest ranking Georgia school.

“For a full decade, this institution has been singled out for offering an outstanding education at a very competitive price,” McAlexander said. “It is gratifying to know that others recognize the work we do to offer education on the Hill at the highest level.”

For its selection of top schools, the magazine looks at a number of factors, including peer assessment, class size, SAT/ACT scores and graduation rates. In conferring the best value designation, the publication uses a formula that relates a school’s academic quality to its cost of attendance.

Forbes’ rankings are based on graduation rate, the number of national and global awards won by students and faculty, students' satisfaction with their instructors, average debt upon graduation, and postgraduate vocational success as measured by recent graduates’ average salary and alumni achievement.

A four-year liberal arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, LaGrange College is the oldest private institution of higher learning in Georgia and has an enrollment of about 1,000 students.