KEARNEY – UNK is once again in the Top 10.
U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 Rankings: Best Public Regional Universities places University of Nebraska at Kearney at ninth in Regional Universities Midwest in Top Public Schools. The annual rankings were released today.
Among all regional universities (public and private in the Midwest) UNK improved over last year’s ranking, to 46th, up from 53rd. In the 2018 rankings, UNK was ranked 64th among all Midwest universities. In the public Midwest university category in which UNK was ranked 9th for 2020, it tied at 10th place for 2019.
Among other rankings of note, UNK was placed 24th for “Best Value” among Midwest universities, and in a new category, was ranked 45th best for “Social Mobility,” again among universities in its region. The Best Value category looks at cost, what student pay after receiving grants, percentage of students receiving grants, and the average discount received. Social mobility examines the graduation rates of Pell grant-eligible students to correlate student success as a social-mobility measure.
UNK also was tied at 29 in its region for “Best Colleges for Veterans,” with UNK veteran/military enrollment at 113 for the evaluation period.
The magazine’s rankings are based on a formula that uses mostly objective measures of academic quality, such as graduation rates, faculty information and admissions data. About 20 percent is based on academic reputation, determined by a peer assessment from top academic administrators at colleges and from high school counselors.
“Once again UNK appears in the Top Ten public universities in the Midwest, and that’s an important message of validation of our quality to students and stakeholders,” said Kelly Bartling, vice chancellor for Enrollment Management and Marketing. “Compared to universities of similar size and role, we can note that the data indicates that we continue to be one of the best, and that’s a message we can use with future students and their families.”
