Submitted by Saint Martin’s University
Saint Martin’s University has achieved a remarkable position among the country’s regional universities offering the best educational value to students, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 “Best Colleges” rankings. The University is ranked 14th in the “best value” category in the Western region, a swath of the country that includes Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
To determine which schools offer the best value, U.S. News says it uses a calculation that is based on the school’s academic quality, a measurement it determines by calculations based on its most recent survey; the percentage of all undergraduates receiving need-based scholarships or grants in the 2017-18 academic year; and the percentage of a school’s total costs for 2017-18 school year covered by the average need-based scholarship or grant to undergraduates. The best values in education, according to the report, are schools giving the highest-quality education at the lowest cost.
“Saint Martin’s University has always focused on academic excellence, access and affordability,” said Saint Martin’s University President Roy Heynderickx, Ph.D. “It is great to be recognized by U.S. News and World Report for our commitment and service to students.”
Saint Martin’s was also listed as tied for 37th among the best regional universities in the West. Universities in this category offer a full range of undergraduate programs and some master’s programs. In addition, the University was listed as tied for 20th in the “best colleges for veterans” category among regional universities in the West.
The Saint Martin’s engineering program was recognized in the “Best Colleges” as tied for 144th (up from 147th last year) in the nationwide rankings of schools whose highest engineering degree is a bachelor’s or master’s. U.S. News and World Report ranks undergraduate engineering programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
“The Hal and Inge Marcus School of Engineering provides our students an excellent engineering and computer science education that incorporates a strong liberal arts core. We are grateful that the trend in our peer rankings reflects a growing awareness nationally of the quality of our programs and graduates,” said Dave Olwell, Ph.D., dean of the Hal and Inge Marcus School of Engineering.
U.S. News’ overall ranking system is based on measures deemed to be reliable indicators of academic quality, along with the magazine’s analysis of those factors. Its formula uses information provided on 16 indicators of academic quality, among them social mobility; peer and high-school counselor assessment; graduation and retention rates; faculty resources; student selectivity; the institution’s financial strength; and alumni giving, a category that gauges to some extent the esteem graduates have for their alma mater.
Saint Martin’s University is an independent, four-year, coeducational university located on a wooded campus of more than 300 acres in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 13 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 27 majors and ten graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education, nursing and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes more than 1,300 undergraduate students and 250 graduate students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its Lacey campus, and more students to its extended campus located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Visit the Saint Martin’s University website at www.stmartin.edu.
