Posted 11:01 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022
UW-La Crosse now ranked among national universities in prestigious list
You're only as good as the company you keep. And for UW-La Crosse, that company has grown to nationally known major universities from the Big 10, Pac 10 and more.
US News & World Report’s ranking of the Best Colleges for 2023 has promoted UWL to its “Top Public Schools Among National Universities” category. The result: UWL is the top-ranked comprehensive university in the UW System, outside the land-grant research campus, UW-Madison.
The change is due to the expansion of UWL’s two doctoral programs — physical therapy and student affairs administration — and the uptick in the number of graduates from those programs.
“We’re now considered among the national universities by US News & World Report,” explains Assistant Vice Chancellor for Admissions & Recruitment Corey Sjoquist. “This speaks highly of the fantastic work our faculty and staff continue to do day in and day out to create the best educational experience that focuses on student success.”
Overall, UWL was No. 124 on the list, tied with eight others such as Utah State, the University of North Dakota and California State University Fresno. Other UW campuses were UW-Madison, No. 10, while the survey listed UW-Milwaukee and UW-Oshkosh in the No. 169-227 range. For more than 20 years, UWL was ranked the top campus in the state outside UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee in the regional category.
The magazine’s current rankings also listed UWL among “Top Performers on Social Mobility,” identifying schools successfully assisting students from low-income families through college to graduation.
The rankings are a thorough examination of how more than 1,460 accredited, four-year schools compare on a set of up to 17 widely accepted indicators of excellence. Among the many factors weighed in determining the rankings, the key measures of quality are peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. See complete listings at: www.usnews.com/colleges.
UWL Chancellor Joe Gow says the promotion to the national universities category is commendable and points to the university’s continued progress.
“This advancement into the national rankings is yet another indicator of the high-quality education our students experience at UWL,” says Gow. “We have great word-of-mouth from current students and alumni who tell others about their UWL experience, so these rankings share the value of a UWL education to an even larger audience.”
Other recent accolades for UWL include:
- Finance technology company SmartAsset listed UWL among the top 50 colleges in the U.S., underscoring commitment to affordability, high-quality academic programming and providing students with a strong return on their investment.
- Military Friendly Schools survey placed UWL in the “Gold” category among the most military friendly schools in the country for 2022-23, affirming UWL’s services and support for student veterans and military family members.
- LendEDU, a website that specializes in student loan information, found in 2021 that UWL ranks among the top two campuses in Wisconsin and No. 153 nationally for minimizing student debt.
- La Crosse was named the No. 4 best small college town by Preply, which considered factors related to wallet friendliness, social environment and economic opportunities.