Brenau gains in 'Best Value' category of annual U.S. News college rankings

GAINESVILLE - Brenau University continued to score high in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of best colleges and universities in the nation and moved into 11th place in the Southeast in the magazine's "Great Schools, Great Prices" category that rates institutions for value they offer students.

The results of the magazine's seminal study of American higher education institutions put Brenau at 29th place making it only one of two Georgia institutions in the top regional universities category for the 11-state Southeastern region.

Brenau made it to the Top 15 in the best value category for the seventh consecutive year, moving from 12th place last year to 11th in this year's rankings.

The 2012 edition of U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges publication will be on newsstands on Sept. 20, on the magazine's Web site at on www.usnews.com/colleges and through the U.S. News College Compass publication.

In the rankings only one other Georgia institution, Mercer University in Macon, fared better than Brenau in the regional universities categories. Brenau and Mercer also were the only Georgia institutions in the "Great Schools, Great Prices" rankings for regional universities. Other Georgia universities in the top 100 were Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville at 36th, North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega at 56th, Piedmont College in Demorest at 60th and Valdosta State University in Valdosta at 71st.

"With more and more pressure on state and private institutions for accountability in their academic offerings, these surveys prove that Brenau meets its goal to provide students extraordinary educational opportunities for their tuition dollars," said Brenau President Ed Schrader. "We have a dedicated faculty and administrative staff that makes it their personal mission to work tirelessly toward improving Brenau's undergraduate and graduate programs on all campuses and online."

U.S. News rankings are based on assessments of more than 1,400 schools nationwide by all the university presidents surveyed, surveys of key administrators and academic leaders in colleges and universities around the nation, graduation rates, average admission test scores, faculty/student ratio, tuition rates and levels of financial aid provided by the institution and other criteria. The thorough examination of how accredited four-year schools compare on a set of up to 16 widely accepted indicators of excellence also include evaluation of data on graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.