Knox National Ranking in US News Best Colleges

Knox College is ranked in the top third of the nation's best liberal arts colleges, according to the 2012 rankings compiled by US News & World Report. The rankings were released September 13.

Knox's ranking of 71st among 252 national liberal arts colleges is based on criteria that include:

• A dedicated faculty, 95% of whom are full-time
• Academics and campus life that result in 89% retention rate for first-year students
• Small classes, 66% with fewer than 20 students
• Giving rate of 38% for alumni who give to their alma mater

"Attracting the interest of top students and faculty, and financial support from thousands of alumni, are all consistent with Knox's ranking among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges," said Paul Steenis, vice president for enrollment and dean of admission.

"Applicants to Knox continue to be unusually motivated, intellectually curious and high achieving," Steenis said. "They want the kind of interaction with distinguished faculty and diversity of campus life that Knox offers." The entering class at Knox this year is the most diverse in the history of the College, with 400 students coming from 30 states and 32 countries; 32%  are U.S. students of color and 16% are from outside the U.S.

"U.S. News and other guidebooks do a good job at collecting data," Steenis said. "We encourage students to combine this information with advice from counselors, guidebooks and their own experiences from campus visits -- only you can determine which criteria are most important to you, which colleges are best for achieving your dreams," Steenis said.

Rankings are published on the US News website, www.usnews.com and in a printed guidebook, US News Best Colleges 2012.