BW rankings rise ... and so do grads

A new round of college rankings shows Baldwin Wallace University moving up and standing out as an innovative, best value college that drives social mobility with superior teaching.

In BW's 26th year among "America's Best Colleges," a report produced by U.S. News, BW rose to #10 on the "Best in the Midwest" list and was highly ranked in a number of other Midwest categories.

U.S. News pegged BW as #4 among "Innovative Schools," #5 for "Best Value," #6 for "Best Undergraduate Teaching" and #7 as "Best for Veterans."

Boost on the ladder of success

U.S. News also recognized BW on a new "Social Mobility" list that measures a school's success in graduating lower income students who receive federal Pell Grant support.

Washington Monthly recently isolated a similar set of "social mobility metrics" to create its "America's Best Bang for the Buck Colleges" list. The magazine explained that schools on the list, including BW, were ranked according to "how well they help non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices."

Quality and Value

The value of a BW education also landed the University among Forbes and Money Magazine's "Top Colleges," and on Kiplinger's "Best College Values" list, which only features schools that offer "a high-quality education at an affordable price."

Forbes says the schools it recognizes "deliver the top academics, best experiences, career success and lowest debt," while Money "weighs more than 19,000 data points, including tuition fees, family borrowing, and career earnings" to build a database of "high-value colleges."

Kiplinger's notes, "Our rankings now compare the average first-year financial aid award to that of all undergraduates, rewarding schools that avoid giving generous aid packages to incoming students only to reduce them in subsequent years."

Innovation and teaching

Again this year, Princeton Review named BW among the "academically outstanding" schools that are "Best Midwestern Colleges."

At the heart of outstanding academics are BW's teaching faculty mentors. In compiling its "Best Undergraduate Teaching" list, U.S. News affirmed excellence in the classroom through peer surveys.

"Research shows the greater access students have to quality instructors, the more engaged they will be in class and the more they will learn and likely graduate," the magazine explains.

Peer surveys also determined U.S. News' new "Innovative Schools" list, which features universities "that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities."

"Cool Schools" for Sustainability

A variety of individual programs at BW also received national recognition throughout the year.

Earlier this month, the Sierra Club included BW on its 2019 "Cool Schools" list, which is based on BW's Silver "STARS" sustainability rating, a reporting and ranking system administered by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.