Bellarmine University’s rankings rose this year across several categories in U.S. News & World Report’s annual report that compares colleges and universities across the nation.
Bellarmine rose from 206 to 202 among National Universities. The university’s overall score also increased this year from 48 to 49. Scores are determined by a number of widely accepted marks of excellence, such as student to faculty ratio and graduate and retention rates.
"We’re pleased to see our continuous efforts to constantly improve reflected in our scores increasing," said Dr. Susan M. Donovan, Bellarmine's president. "The rankings allow us to benchmark against prominent institutions as we strive to deliver a transformative student experience and become known as a model for academic innovation."
Notably, Bellarmine also ranked 58th of 392 universities in Best Undergraduate Teaching, which reflects a strong commitment to teaching undergraduates. Bellarmine came in at 211 for Top Performers in Social Mobility, which gauges the number of students who enroll and graduate as Pell Grant recipients. The majority of the federal Pell Grants are awarded to students whose adjusted gross family incomes are less than $50,000.
The 2022 U.S. News national universities list was topped by Princeton University, followed by Columbia, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In recent years, Bellarmine launched a new strategic plan, while the athletics program moved to NCAA Division I. This year, the university's momentum continued with the creation of a new Center for Community Engagement and Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Success.
This is the 28th consecutive year that U.S. News has included Bellarmine in its rankings of the nation's best universities. Bellarmine was previously ranked on a list of regional universities in the South but was reclassified with the expansion of its graduate and doctoral programs.
The publication classifies national universities as those that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master's and doctoral programs, and emphasize faculty research or award professional practice doctorates.
Bellarmine also rose this month in Washington Quarterly’s annual rankings.