U.S. News ranks CLU 16th in West
University also placed high on Forbes.com list
(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Aug. 22, 2008) California Lutheran University is ranked 16th on the 2009 U.S. News & World Report list of top schools in the West offering quality bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
CLU has placed among the top tier of Western Regional Universities for 14 years. Last year, it was ranked 20th.
The new rankings were posted today on the U.S. News & World Report Web site at www.usnews.com and will be featured in the Sept. 1 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine and the 2009 America’s Best Colleges guidebook.
In Forbes.com’s first report on America’s Best Colleges released on Aug. 13, CLU ranked 251st among all private and public undergraduate institutions in the United States. The Forbes report was compiled as an alternative to the U.S. News rankings in conjunction with an Ohio University economist and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. It uses different criteria, including student evaluations and alumni achievement, and doesn’t break the rankings into subcategories.
In the U.S. News report, CLU maintained its spot among the top institutions in the West based on high scores in the categories it measures. The percent of freshmen in the top 25 percent of their graduating class increased from 55 percent in the 2008 rankings to 68 percent. CLU also showed improvement in its assessment by the country’s top academics, graduation rate and percent of classes with fewer than 20 students.
“It is gratifying to see that U.S. News and Forbes.com both ranked CLU among the top universities,” said CLU President Chris Kimball. “We have placed an emphasis on providing strong academic programs and recruiting well-prepared students and distinguished faculty, and I think these rankings illustrate our success.”
CLU is a selective liberal arts and sciences university located in Thousand Oaks, with centers in Oxnard and Woodland Hills. With an enrollment of more than 3,400 students, CLU offers 36 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs within the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business and School of Education. Doctoral degrees in educational leadership and higher education leadership are also offered. Members of the CLU student body come from across the nation and around the world and represent a diversity of faiths and cultures.