Averett University has retained its ranking among the top 30 “Best Regional Colleges in the South” in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report college rankings released September 9. The university is once again the highest-ranking Virginia school among the 73 top tier schools listed as Regional Colleges. In addition, U.S. News ranks Averett among the Best Colleges for Veterans in the South. The full listing of Best Regional Colleges can be found here: colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-colleges.

“Averett University is pleased to be ranked among the 30 Best Regional Colleges in the South for the third consecutive year,” said Averett President Dr. Tiffany Franks. “Our goal at Averett is to be a premier student-centered university renowned for innovative teaching and experiential learning. Our consistently impressive performance in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report rankings proves that we are well on our way to achieving our goal.”

The U.S. News rankings, which include data on nearly 1,800 colleges and feature rankings of 1,376 schools, focus on academic excellence, with schools ranked on as many as 16 measures of academic quality. The rankings emphasize outcomes, with graduation and retention rates carrying the most weight in the methodology at 30 percent.

“Taking into account how well a school supports its students from freshman year through graduation is important,” said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News, in a news release on the magazine’s website. “To find the best fit, students should consider a range of factors, from financial aid offerings and location to campus size and majors. The process can be overwhelming, but our rankings and advice content are a great place to start.”

The college ranking categories are based upon the 2010 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifications. The Carnegie classification system has been used by U.S. News since the first Best Colleges rankings in 1983, because it is accepted as the basis for classifying schools by most higher education researchers.