Dive Brief:
- Washington Monthly’s ranking of national universities based on their public mindedness has University of California schools dominating the top five: UC-San Diego at No. 1, followed by UC-Riverside, UC-Berkeley, Texas A&M University, and UCLA.
- The magazine’s annual ranking measures three criteria — social mobility, research, and public service — with lists for national universities, liberal arts colleges, master’s universities, and baccalaureate colleges.
- The No. 1 liberal arts school is Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. For master’s universities and baccalaureate colleges, the top spots are claimed by Creighton University in Nebraska and Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, respectively.
Dive Insight:
The top positions on the Washington Monthly list are dominated by public universities, while the U.S. News & World Report list — the granddaddy-of-them-all college ranking — has private universities taking its top 20 spots. Washington Monthly also has a “best bang for the buck” overall ranking — CUNY Brooklyn College takes the No. 1 title there — and for each of its four categories of colleges and universities.