The bimonthly magazine that covers the nation's politics, government, culture and media released its 2015 College Guide Aug. 24. The annual issue takes a different approach to ranking the nation's colleges and universities. Its latest list puts WMU at the No. 92 spot among national universities and at No. 13 in the Midwest in the magazine's Best Bang for the Buck category.
To answer the question, "What can colleges do for the country?" Washington Monthly's college rankings rate institutions based on criteria the publication characterizes as college qualities that are good for the nation. Criteria include producing cutting-edge research and new Ph.Ds., encouraging students to give back to the nation through service, and promoting social mobility by recruiting and graduating low-income students. The publication says it explicitly rejects the criteria used by other high-profile rankings that identify schools "that spend the most money, exclude the most students and impress a small circle of elites."
This is the third time WMU has appeared on Washington Monthly's list of top-100 national universities since the magazine launched the initiative in 2005. It's also the University's third appearance on the Best Bang for the Buck ranking. The latter ranking has been revamped this year to call out top-value colleges by their geographical region, instead of producing a single national list.
Only three other Michigan universities—Michigan State University, Michigan Tech University and the University of Michigan—are on the top-100 national universities list. On the Midwest Best Bang for the Buck list, there are 13 Michigan schools that include public universities, private liberal arts schools and religious institutions.
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