Benedictine Now a Top 10 ‘U.S. News’ School
Benedictine College
Benedictine College is now ranked in the Top 10 for its category by U.S. News and World Report.
In newly released rankings, Benedictine College has jumped up three spots in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of “America’s Best Colleges” and is now in the top 10 in its division.
The rankings, published by U.S. News Media Group, list 91 colleges in the Midwest Division of the Best Regional Colleges and Benedictine is listed at No. 10 in the region, the highest ranked Catholic college in the division.
U.S. News & World Report also lists Benedictine College as a Best Value school, and the top Catholic school in its category. The complete rankings are available online here.
“Becoming a Top 10 U.S. News school is the latest success of our transformational plan Benedictine 2020: A Vision for Greatness,” said Stephen D. Minnis, president of Benedictine College. “Our board of directors, faculty and administration reached for the goal of making Benedictine one of the great Catholic colleges in America, and this Top 10 ranking shows that the work paid off.”
The Benedictine 2020 plan made important gains in each aspect of the college’s mission of community, faith and scholarship.
- Community: The plan built one of the nation’s leading student life programs, as well as the new Murphy Recreation Center, a new Dining Hall updated softball, baseball, football, and soccer facilities, and four new Residence Halls.
- Faith: The college built four new chapels on campus, recently renewed its consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary and enthroned the Sacred Heart of Jesus on campus, all while expanding our mission trips and service opportunities.
- Scholarship: Benedictine opened six new academic buildings. New majors include Architecture and Engineering and new programs include the Honors Program, Great Books Program, the Gregorian Fellows, Wangari Maathai STEM fellows, and the Thompson Center for Integrity in Finance and Economics.
The Benedictine 2020 plan also brought the college to a new level in STEM education:
- Massive new cutting-edge facility. Benedictine built what was explicitly designed to be the best STEM building of any small college in America — the 100,000 square-foot Westerman Hall, which will be dedicated this Fall.
- New School of Engineering. Benedictine can now confer ABET accredited degrees in mechanical, civil and chemical engineering, programs in which 11 professors who together have 11 patents teach students and launch them into exceptional engineering careers.
- NSF grants. Two Benedictine students received 2017 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships — very unusual for a small college — for discovering a new species of tardigrades.
- Superbugs. A Benedictine College biochemistry professor received 2017 patents for a treatment for antibiotic-resistant superbugs, research that students participated in.
- STEM Fellows. Benedictine launched the Wangari Maathai STEM Fellows, a program for exceptional STEM students named for a Biology major of ours who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Vatican astronomy. Benedictine is the only American Catholic college that offers an Astronomy major, and our new observatory was dedicated in 2017 by priests from the Vatican Observatory, which formed a partnership with Benedictine.
Using a proprietary methodology, the annual U.S. News rankings represent the most comprehensive look at how schools stack up based on a set of 15 widely accepted indicators of excellence, and help consumers evaluate and compare data compiled from more than 1,900 accredited four-year schools.
The college’s Lists and Rankings page lists other independent recommendations:
- Recommended in the Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College
- No. 1 College in Kansas and a Top 10 college in the Midwest, College Consensus
- “The Best College in Kansas, CollegeSimply.com
- The “Hidden Gem” College in Kansas, College Raptor
- The Largest Private College in Kansas, Kansas Independent College Association.
- No. 5 International Business School in the Nation, Study.com
- No. 21 Nursing School in the Nation, Nursing Schools Almanac.
- One of the Top 25 Great Books Programs, Best College Reviews
- All-Steinway School, Steinway & Sons.
- Approved” Homeschool-friendly College, Homeschooling Parent.
Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts colleges located on a wooded 120-acre campus in Atchison, Kansas. The school prides itself on outstanding academics, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. The college traces its roots to 1858 and has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship. More information is available the college’s www.benedictine.edu website.
