Salve Regina ranked among nation’s best colleges in U.S. News survey

Salve Regina has been designated once again among the best colleges and universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

In its 2021 Best Colleges survey, Salve Regina ranked #31 overall in the publication’s Regional Universities North category, earning additional praise as #16 in Undergraduate Teaching, #31 in Best Value and #132 in Top Performers on Social Mobility.

Salve Regina faculty were collectively designated among the best in the Undergraduate Teaching category based on a peer assessment survey of college presidents, provosts and admissions deans. Those higher education administrators who participated in the annual U.S. News peer assessment survey were asked to nominate up to 15 schools where faculty are committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner. Those institutions ranked by U.S. News received the most top 15 nominations.

Best Value institutions are academically high performing schools that also cost considerably less as a result of financial aid, particularly in the form of need-based grants and scholarships that do not need to be paid back. Ranking factors include the percentage of all undergraduates receiving need-based scholarships or grants, the average discount from the university’s total “sticker price,” the ratio of academic quality to cost, and the percent of students receiving need-based aid.

As a “Top Performer on Social Mobility,” Salve Regina was assessed to be more successful than other universities in enrolling and graduating students who have been awarded Pell Grants. Students receiving these grants typically come from households whose family incomes are less than $50,000 annually, though most Pell Grant money goes to students with a total family income below $20,000.

Overall, U.S News assessed 1,452 U.S. bachelor’s degree-granting institutions on 17 measures of academic quality in its 2021 survey.