Sept. 21, 2018 — U.S. News & World Report has ranked CSU Channel Islands(CSUCI) 21st in their Top Public Schools Regional Universities West division.
U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that ranks the nation’s colleges and universities each year in their 2019 Best Colleges report, using data from more than 1,800 schools across the country.
With an eye on academic excellence, the Best Colleges rankings evaluate schools on hundreds of data points using up to 16 measures of academic quality. This year U.S. News updated the Best Colleges methodology o further emphasize student outcomes, which hold the most weight at 35 percent – up from 30 percent last year.
With this update, U.S. News is measuring how well schools support low-income students through graduation, which is a priority on the CSUCI campus.
“Along with the academic excellence we’ve achieved at CSU Channel Islands, I’m pleased that U.S. News & World Report is now capturing social mobility,” said CSUCI President Erika D. Beck, Ph.D. “We are very proud of the fact that we transform lives and entire families with our academic programs and the wealth of support resources we have here on campus, especially for those students who may be the first in their family to attend college. This kind of national recognition is a great reminder of the value we carry for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.”
U.S. News analyzed how well schools succeed at enrolling and graduating students from low income families by measuring 1) graduation rates of students who receive federal Pell Grants, and 2) the differences in graduation rates of Pell Grant students versus non-Pell Grant recipients.
Some of the other 16 factors measured included first-year student retention, graduation rates and the strength of the faculty.