Maryville College among U.S. News and World Report’s ‘Best Colleges’

Named South’s best college for veterans

by Maryville College | Special to Presbyterian News Service

Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn., a college long affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is among U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges.” (Contributed photo)

LOUISVILLE — Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn., long affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has been listed in U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Colleges” guidebook, ranking third overall in the “Best Regional Colleges-South” category.

According to a Maryville College news release, the regional college rankings include colleges that focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. They are ranked in four geographical groups: North, South, Midwest and West. High Point University in North Carolina and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas topped the list of southern colleges, which included 124 colleges total.

Maryville College also was ranked in several sub-categories of southern colleges, including No. 1 in the “Best Colleges for Veterans” in the South. The list includes the top-ranked schools in the 2020 Best Colleges rankings that participate in federal initiatives helping veterans and active-duty service members pay for their degrees.

Maryville College ranked third overall in the category of “Best Undergraduate Teaching” in the South. Based on a survey conducted in spring 2019, the schools on the list received the most votes from top college administrators for putting a particular focus on undergraduate teaching.

In the list of “Best Value” colleges in the South, Maryville College ranked fourth overall. The calculation used for this ranking “takes into account a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its 2020 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, and the 2018-2019 net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid,” according to the description on the website. “The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.”

Maryville College also was tied for No. 4 on the list of “Top Performers on Social Mobility” in the South, along with South Florida State College. Colleges on the list include those that are more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants (the vast majority of these federal grants are awarded to students whose adjusted gross family incomes are under $50,000).

“As Maryville College celebrates its bicentennial this year, we are proudly telling the story of a college that is one of the oldest in the South,” said Maryville College President Tom Bogart. “I am pleased that U.S. News & World Report has chosen to recognize us as one of the best in the region. This national attention is thanks to our dedicated faculty, staff and administrators, who work hard every day to make Maryville College worthy of our students and our history.”

The new rankings, data, tables and lists — including extensive statistical profiles for each school and a search tool to enable prospective students and parents to find the college that best fits their needs — is available on the magazine’s website. The guidebook will be available for sale on newsstands Oct. 15.

Maryville College is in Maryville, Tenn., between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Knoxville, the state’s third largest city. Founded in 1819, it is the 12th oldest institution of higher learning in the South and maintains an affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Known for offering its students a rigorous and highly personal experience that includes an undergraduate research requirement, Maryville College is a nationally ranked institution of higher learning that successfully joins the liberal arts and professional preparation. Total enrollment for the fall 2018 semester was 1,154.