CIU Up in U.S. News Rankings

CIU Up in U.S. News Rankings

"Students at CIU are well-supported in an atmosphere in which we do everything we can to help them succeed and that they do succeed at a higher than expected rate."

Columbia International University rose 18 positions in the annual U.S. News & World Report college rankings. CIU is number 37 among regional universities in the South. The 2014 rankings take into account factors such as class size, freshmen test scores and the graduation rate; areas that some parents and students use as a guide to choose a school.

CIU Provost Dr. James Lanpher says the rise in the rankings reflects CIU’s commitment to excellence and he specifically notes CIU’s peer assessment score in the survey increased by about 15 percent. The score is determined by a survey of presidents, provosts, and others at institutions in the South that are similar to CIU.

“When this score goes up it means that others in the higher education community are having a higher opinion of us based on what our faculty produce and on CIU graduates that they know,” Lanpher said. “As high school students look for a college, it’s definitely to their benefit to choose a school that has a good and increasing reputation.”

Lanpher says another contributing factor to CIU’s ranking is retention and graduation rates. U.S News puts together several bits of data to come up with a “predicted” graduation rate and then they compare this to a school’s actual graduation rate. In CIU’s case, the actual graduation rate is significantly higher than the predicted rate.

“This implies that students at CIU are well-supported in an atmosphere in which we do everything we can to help them succeed and that they do succeed at a higher than expected rate,” Lanpher said. “Since college is a significant financial investment it makes sense to go to a school that increases the likelihood of success.”

Lanpher says it’s rewarding to be publically recognized, but CIU has a higher calling.

“Of course, even without rankings, we at CIU would continue to try to improve everything we do because it is our deepest desire to serve God by educating men and women who will impact the world for Christ in whatever role He calls them to.”