U.S. News Ranks Westmont in Top 100
For the second straight year Westmont has ranked in the top 100 of the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges according to U.S. News & World Report’s “American’s Best Colleges, 2011 Edition.” Of the nation’s 266 liberal arts colleges that emphasize undergraduate education, Westmont has placed in the top tier at 99. This is the sixth straight year the college has ranked in the most prestigious group.
Only eight other liberal arts colleges in California are included in the first tier: Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Occidental, Pitzer, Whittier and Thomas Aquinas Colleges.
Westmont is just one of three liberal arts colleges among the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) in the top 101, and the only one in California to be listed in the first tier. Westmont moved into the third tier in 2000, into the second in 2003 and into the top tier in 2005.
Earlier this month, Forbes magazine gave Westmont a ranking of 81 out of all U.S. colleges and universities. Only 610 colleges made the list. Westmont was in the top eight California colleges and universities with Stanford, Claremont McKenna College, Pomona College, California Institute of Technology, Harvey Mudd College, UC Berkeley and UCLA. Princeton Review also named Westmont one of the Best Western Colleges.
“I’m delighted that the excellence of Westmont continues to be recognized,” says Joyce Luy, Westmont dean of admission. “The rankings from Forbes and U.S. News reaffirm that Westmont is one of the most selective and challenging Christian liberal arts colleges in the country.”
Luy admits that no ranking system is perfect, and she encourages students, parents and counselors not to base their college choice solely on any one ranking.
“College-bound students should also consider such factors as community, spiritual life or a student’s relationships with faculty, which are important reasons why applicants decide to attend Westmont,” Luy says.
The news comes just days before Westmont welcomes the class of 2014. Orientation for first-year students and their parents begins Thursday, Aug. 26, and classes for all students begin Monday, Aug. 30.