Tabor makes nationally recognized list
College rankings give Tabor College president Larry Nikkel something to strive for — even after the institution is recognized in a national publication.
U.S. News & World Report has featured Tabor College among the best Midwestern comprehensive colleges offering bachelor's degrees in its "America's Best Colleges 2003" issue.
Tabor has once again been ranked in the second tier of the "comprehensive colleges-bachelor's" category — a category consisting of 324 institutions that focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than 50 percent of their degrees in liberal-arts disciplines. Tabor made a showing in the second tier in 2001.
Last year, the magazine adopted the Carnegie Foundation's updated classification system, the most widely-used methodology system used for rating academic quality.
The U.S. News rankings are based on the following criteria: peer assessment, student selectivity, faculty resources, graduate and retention rate, financial resources, alumni giving and graduate-rate performance.
"It is gratifying to see that the external world recognizes the quality that Tabor represents," said Nikkel. "The credit for this level of recognition goes to our faculty and staff, to our students and to the entire Tabor community. While we are delighted with this rating, it is our goal to continue our quest for excellence until we are recognized as one of the premier Christian colleges of the Great Plains."
A portion of these rankings and articles from the "America's Best Colleges" guidebook will appear in the Sept. 23 issue of U.S. News & World Report. All 2003 rankings are available online at www.usnews.com.
