RU listed among Best Public Colleges in America

Radford University has been named among the "Best Public Colleges in America" by The Business Journals.

The business news publication ranked RU 158 out of the 484 four-year public U.S. colleges across the nation that it analyzed by using the latest data released by the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

College rankings recently issued by four national publications — Forbes, Kiplinger's, U.S. News and World Report, and Washington Monthly — were also taken into account, The Business Journals stated in a news release.

"We are proud to learn that The Business Journals has recognized Radford University among the top public universities in the United States," said RU President Penelope W. Kyle. "The ranking underscores our commitment to our students and the efforts of our faculty and administration to provide them with a valuable education that will prepare them for their respective careers."

The goal of the study, said The Business Journals, was to identify the public colleges and universities that offer the best educational experiences to their students.

"The highest marks went to schools with highly selective admissions processes, strong retention and graduation rates, prestigious reputations, affordable tuitions and housing costs, diverse faculties and student bodies, and economically robust communities," The Business Journals' press release stated.

The Business Journals rated public universities and colleges in six categories: selectivity, advancement, prestige, costs, diversity and community.

Criteria universities and colleges must meet to be included in The Business Journals' ranking are:

• More than half of the degrees they granted during the most recent academic year were at the bachelor's degree level or higher.
   
  
• They have been classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as baccalaureate, master's or research institutions.
   
  
• They submitted the full range of 2013 data to the National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
   
  
• They are not U.S. military academies. (The academies for the Army, Navy and Air Force were excluded from this study because of their unique admissions processes.)

The complete rankings process is explained on The Business Journals website.