Friday, October 18, 2013

Snow College is the Best College in America!


Three national organizations published rankings of two-year colleges during the 2013 year. All three put Snow College in the top 10 nationally—not 10%—top 10. By the way, there are about 1,200 two-year colleges in the country. And as if this was not enough, when we look at the three ranking together it becomes apparent that Snow College is the only school included in all three top 10 lists, making it arguably the best college in America!

I have prepared a chart, which includes the top ten schools in each of these organizations. The schools highlighted in gray are those included in only one of the ranking lists. The schools in blue are found in two of the three lists. And the school in orange, Snow College, is the only school included in all three lists.

CNN Money
THE BEST SCHOOLS
WASHINGTON MONTLY
1. East San Gabriel
1. Walla Walla CC
1. St. Paul College
2. New Mexico Military
2. Santa Barbara CC
2. North Florida CC
3. Victor Valley College
3. Lake Area Technical
3. North Dakota State
4. USU Eastern
4. East San Gabriel
4. Wisconsin Indianhead
5. North Central Kansas
5. New Mexico Military
5. Lawson State CC
6. Snow College
6. North Central Kansas
6. Missouri-West Plains
7. Northwest Iowa CC
7. Valencia College
7. Western Wyoming CC
8. Southeast CC
8. Snow College
8. Capital Area Tech C
9. Georgia Military
9. St. Paul College
9. Snow College
10. De Anza College
10. Mayland CC
10. N. Central Missouri C

The first ranking this year was published by CNN Money, the world’s largest business website and the online home of Fortune and Money magazines. CNN Money listed Snow College 6th in the country for student success. This ranking is “based on the percentage of students that graduated within three years or transferred to four-year colleges.”[i] To my knowledge CNN Money is the first such organization to give Snow College a national ranking.

The Best Schools, a leading resource for campus and online education, published the second ranking out this year. The Best Schools placed Snow College 8th in the country. Like CNN Money, this group included graduation and transfer rates in its consideration. However, they added a number of other variables to the mix including, “strong rates of employment, salaries and advancement for graduates matched with workplace skill needs,” “policies and practices that result in student diversity and success among low-income students and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, and “reasonable tuition costs, access to financial aid resources and an emphasis on minimizing post-school debt.”[ii]

The final ranking published this year was complied by the Washington Monthly in its September/October 2013 printed edition. Washington Monthly ranked Snow College 9th in America, based on data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, housed at the University of Texas at Austin, and U.S. Department of Education measures of student retention and completion.[iii]



[ii] http://www.thebestschools.org/rankings/ (accessed October 18, 2013)

[iii] This ranking can also be found at http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings_2013/community_rank.php (accessed October 18, 2013)

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