ECU Listed Among Nation's Top Universities in New Ranking | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post, Crystal Baity, is a contributor to ECU News Services.

    East Carolina University ranks in the top tier of national universities in a new listing by U.S. News & World Report.

    In the magazine's 2017 "Best Colleges" guide released online Sept. 13, ECU is ranked 210, tied with Montana State University, Old Dominion University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

    ECU also is one of 100 schools named in "A+ Schools for B Students," which used student SAT and ACT scores, class rank and freshmen retention rates to develop a list of colleges and universities where students "have a decent shot at being accepted and thriving - where spirit and hard work could make all the difference to the admissions office," according to U.S. News.

    "At ECU, we work very hard to provide exceptional educational opportunities for our students and I believe this commitment to student success is reflected in our growing national stature," said Dr. Ron Mitchelson, ECU provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. "We include students from many walks and are proud of the value that we add to their lives."

    To develop the national university rankings, U.S. News assigned ECU and other universities to a peer group based on the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classification for higher education institutions.

    Among ECU's peer institutions, UNC-Charlotte ranked 202 and UNC-Greensboro ranked 220 while North Carolina A&T State University was ranked in the second tier of the nation's best universities.

    The magazine listed 298 institutions in the national universities category offering a range of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees and research. Ranking metrics included: assessment by academic peers and high school counselors; graduation and retention rates; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; graduation rate performance; and alumni giving.

    ECU is the UNC system's largest producer of teachers and nurses and the only one with professional schools of medicine, dental medicine and engineering.

    U.S. News provides rankings for national universities, national liberal arts colleges, regional universities and regional colleges. More information is available at www.usnews.com/colleges.