Western dubbed a master of the craft
Adam Minorczyk
Issue date: 8/28/09 Section: News
Western Illinois University was recently nominated as a Midwest Top Tier Master's Institution, as concordant to rankings recently gathered by U.S. News and World Report's Annual College Rankings 2010 edition. "We are pleased to receive a top tier Master's ranking from U.S. News and World Report, said Shinberger. This recognition, along with the many others such as The Princeton Review and The Pell Institute, further affirms Western's commitment to providing a quality, accessible and affordable education, and continues its tradition of academic excellence and opportunity."
Shinberger, who utilizes most of the information gathered for universities receiving such prestigious recognition, also indicated that Western had excelled in retaining adequate peer assessment, graduation/retention rates (nearly 59.1 percent in 2009), student-faculty ratio, student selectivity, financial resources and high alumni-giving rates. "Source organizations such as U.S. News and World Report gather data from each college for up to 15 indicators of academic excellence. Each factor is assigned a weight. Finally, the colleges in each category are ranked against their peers, based on their composite weighted score,"said Darcie Shinberger Director of University Relations
"We do, however, want prospective students and parents to look beyond the guides. There is so much that Western offers that cannot be defined by surveys, polls or questionnaires,"Shinberger said. "It is our hope that prospective students and their families look further into Western by visiting our campus, meeting our students and faculty, and learning first-hand what we have to offer and what we provide."
Aside from the competitive class rankings that allowed Western's Master's department to succeed thus far, the school's small class environment and affordable tuition cost were also contributory factors that led to Western's nomination.
In 1999 Western Illinois University established its Cost Guarantee Program, one that would maintain continued focus on providing students with high quality education at an affordable cost.
Shinberger, who utilizes most of the information gathered for universities receiving such prestigious recognition, also indicated that Western had excelled in retaining adequate peer assessment, graduation/retention rates (nearly 59.1 percent in 2009), student-faculty ratio, student selectivity, financial resources and high alumni-giving rates. "Source organizations such as U.S. News and World Report gather data from each college for up to 15 indicators of academic excellence. Each factor is assigned a weight. Finally, the colleges in each category are ranked against their peers, based on their composite weighted score,"said Darcie Shinberger Director of University Relations
"We do, however, want prospective students and parents to look beyond the guides. There is so much that Western offers that cannot be defined by surveys, polls or questionnaires,"Shinberger said. "It is our hope that prospective students and their families look further into Western by visiting our campus, meeting our students and faculty, and learning first-hand what we have to offer and what we provide."
Aside from the competitive class rankings that allowed Western's Master's department to succeed thus far, the school's small class environment and affordable tuition cost were also contributory factors that led to Western's nomination.
In 1999 Western Illinois University established its Cost Guarantee Program, one that would maintain continued focus on providing students with high quality education at an affordable cost.
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