William Jewell College has been named among “America’s Best Colleges” in a new on-line report issued by Forbes.com

In conjunction with Dr. Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, Forbes.com has inaugurated its first ranking of “America’s Best Colleges,” which is projected to be an annual feature. In this report, the CCAP ranks 569 undergraduate institutions based on the quality of the education they provide, and how much their students achieve.

William Jewell was ranked in the number 249 slot out of 569 institutions. Only about 15% of the nation’s four-year colleges and universities were considered for the “America’s Best Colleges” rankings.

According to the Forbes.com on-line report dated August 13: “CCAP’s methodology attempts to put itself in a student’s shoes. How good will my professors be? Will the school help me achieve notable career success? If I have to borrow to pay for college, how deeply will I go into debt? What are the chances I will graduate in four years? Are students and faculty recognized nationally, or even globally?”

The staff at CCAP gathered data from a variety of sources. They based 25% of the rankings on 7 million student evaluations of courses and instructors, as recorded on the Web site RateMyProfessors.com. Another 25% of the rankings was based on how many of the school’s alumni, adjusted for enrollment, are listed among the notable people in Who’s Who in America.

The other half of the ranking is based equally on three factors: the average amount of student debt at graduation held by those who borrowed; the percentage of students graduating in four years; and the number of students or faculty, adjusted for enrollment, who have won nationally competitive awards like Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes.

The nationally competitive awards portion of the rankings considered the number of students receiving Rhodes Scholarships, Marshall Scholarships, Truman Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and Fulbright grants. Over the last six years, William Jewell College students have claimed two Rhodes Scholarship national finalists, a Marshall Scholarship, three Truman Scholarships and three Goldwater Scholarships, along with numerous student and faculty Fulbright grants.

The data show that students strongly prefer smaller schools to big ones. The median undergraduate enrollment in the top-50-ranked schools is just 2,285, and only one of the top 50 (the University of Virginia) has more than 10,000 undergraduate students.

With its challenging academic culture and focus on student achievement, William Jewell College promises students an outstanding liberal arts education that cultivates leadership, service, and spiritual growth within a community inspired by Christian ideals and committed to open, rigorous intellectual pursuits.