BELMONT, N.C., Sept. 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Belmont Abbey College is ranked in the top ten of Best Regional Colleges in the South in the 2017 edition of U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges. This is the highest ranking in Belmont Abbey College's history and places it among the best colleges in the nation.
The U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings measure academic quality by assessing a number of categories, including graduation and retention of first year students, student selectivity, faculty resources, peer institutional assessment, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance.
"Belmont Abbey College's great success is due to God's grace and our cooperation with it. The top ten ranking is a tribute to the extraordinary students, faculty, staff, administrators and monks of Belmont Abbey. Because they seek the truth in every discipline and activity of the college and upon finding it, strive to live in response to it, excellence and virtue has become a way of life for them. It is wonderful to see their accomplishments recognized on a national stage," said Dr. Bill Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College.
Indicators used by the Best Colleges guide include input measures, which reflect the quality of students, faculty and other resources used in education; and outcome measures, such as graduation and freshman retention rates and graduation rate performance, which signal how well the institution educates its student body.
"Rankings like these simply prove our continued commitment to excellence at the Abbey," said Dr. David Williams, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty. "While it's good to know that others recognize that commitment, both now and in the past, today's announcement confirms what our students, faculty and staff have known for quite some time."
Belmont Abbey College's top 10 ranking can also be attributed to the prominence and recognition it has achieved as a leader of religious liberty, college affordability and virtue in sport.
Founded in 1876, Belmont Abbey College is a private, Catholic, baccalaureate and liberal arts institution. Our mission is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things God may be glorified. Guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Benedictine spirit of prayer and learning, we welcome a diverse body of students and provide them with an education that will enable them to lead lives of integrity, to succeed professionally, to become responsible citizens, and to be a blessing to themselves and to others. Our beautiful and historic campus is conveniently located just 10 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., and is currently home to more than 1500 students. For more information, visit www.belmontabbeycollege.edu or www.abbeyathletics.com.
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