Lipscomb ranked in Top 20 universities in the South by U.S. News

Kim Chaudoin  | 

Lipscomb University is again ranked among the top 20 universities in the South, according to the U.S. News and World Report’s “2012 America’s Best Colleges” guidebook published today. With an overall ranking of 19th in the Regional Universities-South category, Lipscomb progressed in 5 of the 12 indicators used for the ranking.
 
Other institutions joining Lipscomb in the top 20 universities in the South include Samford University, The Citadel, James Madison University, Mercer University and Elon University.
 
In U.S. News criteria, Lipscomb improved in its overall score, average graduation rate, percentage of full time faculty, SAT/ACT 25th-75th percentile and acceptance rate. First-time freshmen enrolling at Lipscomb this fall had an average ACT score of 25, up from an average score of 24 last fall, and an average G.P.A. of 3.5, up from an average of 3.44 last fall.
 
“We are pleased that we are able to select students for admission who are among the best and brightest in the nation. We are also thrilled to see an increase in our graduation rate. A measure of our success is not how many students start college, but how many complete it. We are finding creative new ways for students to access a college education as well as implementing strategies to identify retention challenges to help our students complete their degrees. It is gratifying to see that national leaders and educators recognize Lipscomb University as the vibrant, innovative, serving institution it is today,” said Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry.
 
With an official enrollment of 4,018, Lipscomb University has experienced a 59 percent enrollment growth rate since 2005. The university recently completed a five-year investment initiative that pumped an average of $1 million a month into the campus and academic programs. The plan resulted in a renovated campus landscape, 38 new programs of study, 79 new full-time faculty hired and an increase in graduate enrollment from 221 in 2005 to 1,335 this fall.
 
During the past year, Lipscomb has continued to be recognized nationally for the quality of its programs and the success of its students. Highlights of the past 12 months include:
  • Yellow Ribbon Program: More than 100 military veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq are now attending Lipscomb free of charge through the Yellow Ribbon Program. In 2011, Lipscomb partnered with Sentinels of Freedom to bring two disabled veterans to enroll on campus.
  • Washington Monthly ranking. Lipscomb University has been ranked 78th in the nation, by Washington Monthly in its master’s universities category, Tennessee’s only master’s category university to make the top 100.
  • SALT Program: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected Lipscomb University as one of only 115 colleges and universities nationwide to receive its 2010 Community Engagement Classification Lipscomb joins 196 institutions identified in the 2006 and 2008 selection process.
  • New Accreditation: In spring 2011 theHazelip School of Theologywas accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), making Lipscomb the first faith-based university in Middle Tennessee to achieve this prestigious mark of achievement.
  • Race for the Top: In 2011, the College of Education received a $113,000 Race to the Top grant to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics through a professional development workshop called Hands-On Chemistry. Teachers from five Middle Tennessee counties will be enrolled this academic year.
  • Business with a Purpose: A 2011 national study conducted in part by the Lipscomb University College of Business reveals limited presence of women in corporate leadership nationwide, proving that a gender gap still exists in the nation’s executive suites and boardrooms.
  • Cameron Transformational Partnership: The College of Education is partnering with the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and LEAD Academy, to transform Nashville's Cameron Middle School into a national model of education reform. Lipscomb faculty and staff will provide professional development for teachers as Cameron transforms from a public school to a charter school.
  • Conversations of Significance: In 2010-2011, Lipscomb brought many world-changing speakers and experts to campus to address faculty, students, the community and scholars. Among those who visited campus were: Naomi Tutu, human rights advocate and daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Most Reverend Desmond; Doubt playwright John Patrick Shanley; Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.; FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell; Don Shaw, one of the creators of agenda-setting theory in the communication discipline; and Bernard Lafayette, one of the original Freedom Riders from the 1960s.