Pacific University Ranked 19th Nationally Among Master's Universities by Washington Monthly
Public affairs magazine Washington Monthly has ranked Pacific University 19th out of 673 higher education institutions in the master's universities category of the publication's 2015 college rankings.
Pacific ranked first out of nine Oregon-based universities classified as a master's university, and second out of all 20 institutions from Oregon the publication ranked in either the "national," "master's," "liberal arts" or "baccalaureate" categories.
In total, Washington Monthly ranked 1,540 public, private nonprofit and private for-profit colleges and universities across the four categories, as determined by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
"We rank four-year colleges in America on three measures that would make the whole (higher education) system better," Washington Monthly editors said. "The first is upward mobility: Are schools enrolling and graduating students of modest means and charging them a reasonable price?” One-third of all Pacific University students receive a Pell grant.
"The second is research," editors noted. "Are (schools) preparing undergraduates to earn PhDs and creating the new technologies and ideas that will drive economic growth and advance human knowledge?” Pacific ranked 12th among master's institutions whose bachelor's degree alumni go on to earn a PhD or other terminal degree, relative to school size.
The third measurement is service, the editors remarked. "Are schools encouraging their students to give back to the country by joining the military or the Peace Corps, or at least letting them use their work-study money to do community service?” Pacific's community service participation and hours served ranked 18th among the master's universities listed, relative to school size. The university is a four-time recipient of the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and civic engagement is deeply embedded in Pacific's undergraduate and professional programs curricula.
