U.S. News Guide: C-N a “Great School at Great Price” and Among Region’s Best

According to U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 edition of “Best Colleges,” Carson-Newman is ranked 13th among liberal arts colleges in the South and is in the Top Ten in the publication’s “Great Schools, Great Prices” section.

The guide is designed to help students and their families to “compare at a glance the relative quality of institutions based on such widely accepted indicators of excellence as freshman retention and graduation rates and the strength of the faculty,” explained Robert Morse and Samuel Flanigan in the guide’s statement of methodology.

The methodology for the best value citations examined three factors: ratio of quality to price, percentage of undergraduates who received need-based aid last year, and the average discount available to students. According to the publication’s editors, “The calculation … takes into account a school’s academic quality, based on its U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, and the 2010-11 net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.”

“We are pleased with a ranking of number 13 in the South, especially when combined with Newsweek’s citation of C-N as the country’s leading community service providing institution –This kind of news makes for a great fall,” said O’Brien. “I am particularly thrilled U.S. News recognizes that Carson-Newman is a ‘great school’ at a ‘great price.’ You’ll never hear me say that college is inexpensive, but I’m over the moon that we’re rightly championed for value.”

The South region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The print version will hit newsstands Monday and the online report is available for purchase at www.usnews.com.