Westmont Remains in U.S. News' Top Tier

Westmont once again secured a spot among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2007.” For the second straight year Westmont joined six other schools with a ranking of 104.

Only nine other liberal arts colleges in California appear in the highest tier: Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Occidental, Pitzer, Thomas Aquinas and Mills Colleges.

Westmont is just one of two top liberal arts colleges among the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities included in the rankings. Wheaton College in Illinois is the other.

U.S. News ranks colleges based on several measures of quality: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance.

The rankings show that Westmont’s graduation rate has jumped three percent from the previous year. Freshman retention and alumni giving rates have also increased.

New students arrive at Westmont for Orientation beginning, Thursday, Aug. 24. The first day of classes is Monday, Aug. 28.