At No. 6, University lands in South region’s Top 10 for eighth consecutive year
Prospective students and other readers of U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 edition of America’s Best Colleges may think they’re seeing double, triple or more when they scan the latest college rankings as Belmont University lands high across multiple categories in the site’s recent publication. Landing at No. 6 in the Best Regional Universities—South field, Belmont now marks eight consecutive years maintaining a Top 10 regional ranking and remains the highest ranked university in Tennessee in this category.
In the publication Belmont is also lauded for the ninth year in a row for its commitment to “making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities,” landing second on the “Most Innovative Schools” in the South list. And the accolades just keep coming. Belmont is praised in the following categories as well, lending more proof to the outstanding nature of the University’s academic programs and the dedication Belmont has to student success:
- Strong Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching (No. 2 in the South): The strong commitment to undergraduate teaching ranking is determined via a survey of peer institutions, who cite their fellow institutions who best reflect that quality.
- Best Colleges for Veterans (No. 6 in the South): To be included, institutions must be ranked in the top half of their category, be certified for the GI Bill and participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program with 20 or more students using GI Bill benefits to fund their tuition and fees.
- Internships/Co-ops (one of only 22 institutions recognized in the nation): Schools in this category encourage students to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to work in the real world through closely supervised internships or practicums.
- Learning Communities (one of only 18 institutions recognized in the nation): In these communities, students typically take two or more linked courses as a group and get to know one another and their professors well.
- Service-Learning (one of only 27 institutions recognized in the nation): Required volunteer work in the community is an instructional strategy in these programs—what’s learned in the field bolsters what happens in class and vice versa.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “This is great news. I’m so privileged to be associated with faculty and staff who give their best every day to create extraordinary learning experiences for our students. The categories where we have been recognized are a direct result of our goal to be student-centered, and these areas are central to providing an education that equips our students for lives and careers filled with meaning and purpose.”
The U.S. News analysis places Belmont in a premier position among the 139 public and private institutions included in the South region, an area that covers Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi and Louisiana.
At the start of the semester Belmont reached a record-breaking enrollment number for the 16th consecutive year with a total of 7,771 students on campus.
