The U.S. News and World Report named Creighton University the #1 regional university in the Midwest. CU has earned this ranking eight out of nine and 13 out of 14 years. Along with this award, Creighton was named the #1 “best value” university in the Midwest, as well.
According to Director of Public Relations Deborah Daley, plenty of factors are taken into account for this award, such as graduation rates, faculty numbers, how many students select Creighton and stay her, and alumni donations. Other universities across the nation help create the rankings, which is why Daley says the award is a “feather in the cap” for Creighton.
“Our peers are ranking us number one,” Daley said. “It’s nice to get the recognition that we are doing something right.”
Daley believes that the award has major significance because U.S. News and World Report has been doing research for over 20 years, unlike other news magazines like Forbes. While Daley understands the award is an honor, she doesn’t believe that the ranking is why students should come to Creighton.
“Of course it’s something to be proud of,” Daley said, “but no one should base a university on a ranking. It’s about the [life] experience it brings a student.”
Daley says that Creighton gives a different life experience for its students compared to other universities.
“We look at the whole person and make sure that they are healthy in the mind, body and spirit,” Daley said. “You get the sense that the faculty is interested in the students learning, and there’s a whole undergraduate research program under people who are number one in their field.”
Because Creighton was ranked in first place last year as well, the ranking could have been a reason why incoming freshmen for the class of 2014 chose Creighton. College of Business freshman Kate Dorwart considers the ranking a plus but doesn’t believe it is the most important aspect of the University.
“The most important thing about [Creighton] is that it has good academics and promotes good values that I want to keep in my life,” Dorwart said.
Director of Institutional Research Stephanie Wernig also believes that the ranking is just a number.
“We have to pay attention to it,” Wernig said. “But it doesn’t measure all that we do. It’s about what experiences enhance the Jesuit education.”
Each year, Wernig organizes a senior survey provided by the Higher Education Institute at UCLA; just as the freshmen take a survey before they come to Creighton, the seniors also take a survey evaluating their four years at the University. According to the spring 2010 results, Creighton seniors had “a mean score of 54.2 on a computation that measured students’ beliefs about their leadership development and capacity and their experiences as a leader, [which is] significantly higher than the 52.8 mean scores of seniors at other private universities and seniors at public universities.”
Along with winning “best regional university” in the Midwest, Creighton was also given an award for “best value.” According to U.S. News and World Report, schools given “best value” awards are “schools that are above average academically and cost considerably less than many other schools when the financial aid that they dispense, in the form of need-based grants and scholarships, is taken into account.” Daley calls the Creighton alumni “passionate” about their nationally ranked college education.
“Students see the value they get from the education they are paying for,” Daley said. “The alumni giving is so huge because they want people to be able to keep telling the story of Creighton University.”