News
A Top Ten Great School at a Great Price
Continuing its upward ascent, Elmhurst College cracked the top ten list this year of great schools at a great price, according to the latest annual college rankings by U.S. News & World Report, which were released on Tuesday, August 17.
At a time when paying for a college education has never been more of a challenge, Elmhurst ranked No. 10, moving up from No. 11 last year, among 15 institutions that offer the best value in education among Midwestern colleges and universities with master’s degree programs.
In the overall rankings, Elmhurst remained at No. 12 in the top tier of Midwest colleges and universities. In this category, Elmhurst is ranked the highest among schools in the Chicago metropolitan area.
In other important recent rankings, The Princeton Review once again named Elmhurst College a “Best in the Midwest” college. And Elmhurst placed well among Illinois colleges in a Forbes magazine assessment of the nation’s best colleges. That ranking combined private and public institutions in a single list. Elmhurst placed No. 345 on the list, or No. 11 among Illinois institutions, ahead of DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
97 percent receive financial assistance
“The U.S. News rankings acknowledge and reaffirm our commitment in these challenging economic times to provide an outstanding liberal arts education at a reasonable price to our students and their families,” said Elmhurst College President S. Alan Ray. “We will continue to work hard to offer our students the highest value for their investment.”
To determine which colleges offer the best value, U.S. News takes into account a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its 2011 U.S. News ranking, and the 2009-2010 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, the magazine says. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.
The magazine noted that 67 percent of Elmhurst students in 2009 received grants based on financial need, giving them an average cost of $20,850. Broadening the picture to capture other forms of aid, the College notes that last year, 97 percent of Elmhurst students received some form of financial assistance.
Preserving the Monetary Award Program
The College has played an active role in not only sustaining but also expanding financial aid opportunities. Last fall, President Ray led students and faculty in an intense lobbying effort to save the Monetary Award Program from state budget cuts. The grant program, which affects one-third of Elmhurst College undergraduates, helps students attend public and private universities and community colleges in Illinois.
Last spring, the College raised more than $200,000 to fund student scholarships, at its first annual Evening for Scholarships event. Next year’s Scholarship Dinner is scheduled for March 19, 2011.
In U.S. News’ extensive rankings for 2011, Elmhurst College also scored well in other categories. It made the list of “A-Plus Schools for B Students,” which offer supportive environments for “the scholar trapped in the GPA of a B student,” with her heart set on a top college. Elmhurst College continues to score high among its peers in its average freshman retention rate of 84 percent. And it enjoys a favorable student-faculty ratio of 14 to 1.
The Princeton Review places Elmhurst among 152 institutions that are “Best in the Midwest,” as part of its recommendation of schools in four locales: the Northeast, Southeast and the West, as well as the Midwest. The Review interviews students on academic opportunity and student life. This year, the Review quoted one student who observed that Elmhurst is small enough to offer tremendous opportunities.
“I've explored many different career paths with the help of the College's Center for Professional Excellence. I shadowed a variety of employers in the fields I was considering, which helped me focus my career interests,” she said. “In class, too, professors work with students on a one-on-one basis. I never would have found this level of personal attention at a larger university.”
