Montclair State University is ranked 10th among "The Top Public Universities—Master's" in the North in U.S. News & World Report's 2003 college rankings, released Sept. 13.

"We are pleased that year in and year out, we continue to be ranked among the very best universities by U.S. News & World Report," said President Susan A. Cole. "It is satisfying to have national validation of our success, vitality and continued growth.

"At the same time, the U.S. News & World Report rankings are just one imperfect measure of the quality of a college or university. The rankings actually tell very little about the vitality of the academic programs or the quality of the educational opportunities on any given campus. At Montclair State, we pride ourselves on providing a quality higher education at an affordable cost. From our perspective, the best measures of our success are the quality of our faculty, what our students tell us about the quality of the education they receive and the subsequent success of our graduates in their professions or in advanced study."

In compiling its rankings for "universities-master's and comprehensive colleges-bachelor's," U.S. News established new criteria this year. The rankings give the greatest weight (25 percent) to "Peer Assessment." U.S. News says this allows "the top academics we contact--presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions at peer institutions--to account for intangibles such as faculty dedication to teaching."

"Graduation and Retention Rate" also accounted for 25 percent of the final score. According to the magazine, "the higher the proportion of freshmen who return to campus the following year and eventually graduate, the better a school is apt to be at offering the classes and services students need to succeed."

"Faculty Resources" accounted for 20 percent, "Student Selectivity" for 15 percent, "Financial Resources" for 10 percent and "Alumni Giving" for five percent of the total score.

U.S. News acknowledges "the college experience consists of a host of intangibles that cannot be reduced to mere numbers," but says its rankings provide an “excellent starting point for families because they offer the opportunity to judge the relative quality of institutions based on widely accepted indicators of excellence."

The newsstand book, America’s Best Colleges, which contains all the rankings, went on sale Sept. 16. Many of the rankings and some of the articles from the book will be in the Sept. 23 issue of U.S. News & World Report.

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