Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State continues among the top 100 universities in a national magazine ranking based on "what colleges are doing for the country."
MSU is 82nd among some 240 major public and private institutions in the Washington Monthly's third annual survey--up from last year's inclusion at 108. The complete 2007 list is available in the September issue and at www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.natlrankings.pdf.
The guide assesses universities on the basis of community service, research and how frequently they admit and graduate low-income students.
"As in previous years, our aim is to offer an alternative to the U.S. News & World Report and similar college guides," editor Paul Glastris explained in the article's introduction. "Those guides focus on what colleges can do for you. We focus on what colleges are doing for the country."
MSU, a 129-year-old land-grant institution, now ranks third highest among the 12 Southeastern Conference universities. Florida is 26th; Vanderbilt, 39th.
Among other criteria, the ranking formula includes:
--Percentage of students serving in ROTC or the Peace Corps;
--Percentage of federal College Work-Study grants devoted to community service, total research expenditures, and the number of doctorates awarded in science and engineering;
--Percentage qualifying for federal Pell Grants for lower-income students, and
--Actual graduation rate compared with what would be expected, given the economic status of the institution's students.
Thirty-two percent of MSU students receive Pell Grants, and 58 percent graduate within six years.
Founded in 1969 and published in the nation's capital, Washington Monthly focuses primarily on matters related to government and politics.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.