Lipscomb University ranked one of top Christian universities in the nation
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Lipscomb University is one of the top Christian universities in the nation according to a newly released 2015 Niche Ranking.
The Best Christian Colleges ranking released by niche.com ranks 288 Christian colleges and universities based on 50 statistics and ratings from thousands of surveyed students. Among other universities included on the list are Duke, Emory, Brigham Young, Wheaton, Southern Methodist and Baylor. Ranked No. 23 on the list, Lipscomb was the top-ranked university in Tennessee and among other Church of Christ-affiliated institutions, placing ahead of Pepperdine, Harding and Oklahoma Christian universities, among others.
“It is always an honor to be recognized by organizations such as this,” said L. Randolph Lowry, Lipscomb University president. “It serves as a measure of how we are doing in providing a meaningful college experience and education to students and their families. This ranking is particularly significant since it reflects the input of students.”
The Best Christian Colleges ranking provides a comprehensive assessment of the overall experience at traditional, four-year Christian-affiliated colleges and universities in the United States. Based on a filtered version of Niche’s Best Colleges ranking, this ranking uses more than 50 statistics sourced from various government and public data sets, Niche’s own proprietary data, and 11,857,508 opinion-based survey responses across 20 topics from 294,497 current students and recent alumni.
According to niche.com, a high ranking in the overall experience category generally indicates that:
- Students are very happy with their experience at their college in all aspects of student life—academics, social life, campus resources and peer students among others;
- The college is an exceptional academic institution in terms of professors, students, research and resources for learning;
- The college attracts a diverse set of intelligent, high-achieving students and faculty and fosters a community that is open to all viewpoints, backgrounds and personal convictions;
- The college is a healthy environment for students, with low crime, manageable stress and high retention and graduation rates; and
- The college is affordable to students with a low percentage of alumni in student loan default.
Other factors that were considered in the ranking tabulation were academic quality, which accounted for 35 percent of the score; student opinions about an institution’s facilities, athletics programs and the local area around campus; loan default rate; average net price; financial aid; diversity; endowment; health and safety; and fundraising, among other indicators.
Lipscomb University received “A” grades in several areas including campus quality, local area, campus food, and health and safety. The university also received high marks in the academic quality, athletics program and student experience aspect of life at Lipscomb.
This is the latest of several recognitions the university has received for its quality and excellence. In December 2014, Lipscomb was named to the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of 100 best values in private universities for 2015. The ranking includes four-year schools that combine outstanding academics with affordable cost. It is the first time Lipscomb University has been included on this prestigious list. Among other universities included on the list are Harvard, Vanderbilt, Duke, Wake Forest, Princeton and Villanova.
To see the complete ranking and methodology visit colleges.niche.com/rankings/best-christian-colleges. For Lipscomb’s profile, visit colleges.niche.com/lipscomb-university/rankings.