For the 10th consecutive year, U.S. News and World Report has named Bemidji State University one of the best colleges and universities in the Midwest region.
In its annual review of America’s Best Colleges, released Sept. 12, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bemidji State in a tie for 32nd among public institutions in the Midwest region — its highest ranking since 2014 — and tied with seven other institutions for 109th among all colleges and universities, public and private, in the region — up six places from a year ago.
BSU has appeared on the U.S. News list of the Midwest region’s top colleges and universities each year since 2009.
U.S. News & World Report’s rankings categorize schools based on mission according to classifications developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and, in some cases, by geography.
Bemidji State is listed as a regional university in the Midwest region. Regional universities offer a full range of undergrad programs with some master’s programs but few, if any, doctoral programs. The Midwest region includes institutions in North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
U.S. News & World Report began publishing college rankings in 1983. America’s Best Colleges 2018 is online now and the print version will be available on newsstands later this month.
Ranking Methodology
The U.S. News ranking system rests on two pillars. The formula uses statistical quantitative and qualitative measures that its panel of education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality, and it is based on U.S. News’ researched view of what matters in education.
To calculate the rankings, U.S. News gathers data on as many as 15 indicators for each institution; it provides details on each specific variable on its website.
The indicators are scored, normalized and assigned weights that reflect U.S. News’ judgment about the importance of each measure. Weighted values are then summed and transformed so that each eligible school receives an overall score between 0 and 100, with the top school or schools in each category receiving a score of 100. Finally, colleges and universities are ranked against their peers in descending order of their overall scores.
Schools with equal overall scores are marked as tied in the rankings and display in alphabetical order.
U.S. News chooses to only publish the individual overall ranks of schools placing within the top 75 percent of their categories. However, all listed schools – except those categorized as “Unranked” – have an overall score and rank calculated.
Contact
- Scott Faust, director of communications and marketing; (218) 755-2986, sfaust@bemidjistate.edu
Links
- U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Colleges 2018
- America’s Best Colleges 2018 — Regional University Midwest Rankings
- America’s Best Colleges 2018 — Bemidji State University
- America’s Beset Colleges 2018 — Ranking Methodology
Bemidji State University, located amid the lakes and forests of northern Minnesota, occupies a wooded campus along the shore of Lake Bemidji. Enrolling more than 5,100 students, Bemidji State offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and eight graduate degrees encompassing arts, sciences and select professional programs. BSU is a member of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities and has a faculty and staff of more than 550. The university’s Shared Fundamental Values include environmental stewardship, civic engagement and international and multicultural understanding.
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