CWU Among Top 10 in the West

August 18, 2006

Contact: Becky Watson (509-963-1117/509-899-1222, e-mail: bwatson@cwu.edu)

Robert Lowery (509-963-1487, e-mail: loweryr@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash.- Central Washington University has moved into the top 10 public master's degree-granting institutions in the west, according to the new U.S. News & World Report rankings. That is a jump of five spots from last year. It is the fourth consecutive year that U.S. News & World Report has ranked CWU among the top 20 such institutions.

In addition, among all public and private master's comprehensive institutions in the west, CWU moved up 11 spots, from No. 52 in 2006 to No. 41 this year, in the annual "America's Best Colleges" report.

"We're pleased that, once again, Central has been recognized as one of the best universities of its type in the nation," says CWU President Jerilyn S. McIntyre. "Our continued high ranking tells me that we're doing things very well on a variety of important performance indicators. This is a tribute to our outstanding students, faculty, staff and programs."

The last six years have been a period of remarkable growth and development for CWU. Since 2000, enrollment has increased by 25 percent. This year, CWU awarded a total of nearly 2500 degrees -- more than at any time in the last five years. The campus has been transformed during this time as well, with the construction of a state-of-the-art music building, renovation of two historic residence halls, and construction of a new Student Union and Recreation Center funded entirely by students.

The report evaluates comparable colleges and universities in the 15- state West region, which encompasses Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. The rankings are based on data gathered from each college on a variety of indicators, weighted by magazine editors. The universities are then ranked against their peers, based on composite scores.

"U.S. News & World Report uses criteria weighted differently each year," McIntyre points out, "so, we don't use these rankings as a guide to our strategic planning. Still, we are extremely gratified to see the continuing upswing. Our ascending regional reputation may be among the reasons that Central is increasingly a top choice among the state's best high school students."

The America's Best Colleges guidebook and new U.S. News & World Report magazine will be available beginning Monday, Aug. 21. In all, more than 1,400 colleges nationwide were ranked this year.