Knox Ranked in Washington Monthly

23rd among national liberal arts colleges

August 15, 2006

Knox College has been ranked in the top 25 among more than 200 of the nation's liberal arts colleges by Washington Monthly magazine. The rankings, published in the September 2006 issue, are based on three factors -- community service by students and graduates, research by students and graduates, and a school's commitment to access for lower-income students.

This is the second year in a row that Knox has been ranked in the top 50 nationally by Washington Monthly. Knox is ranked 23rd this year, and 46th last year. Knox is one of only two Illinois colleges in the top 100. The magazine said in its written analysis that it tried to "reflect excellence across the full breadth of our measures, rather than reward an exceptionally high focus" in any one area.

"Knox is grateful to receive recognition for strength spanning three areas that the college is especially committed to -- community service, research and access," said Lawrence Breitborde, Dean of the College.

The community service ranking was based on the percentages of alumni working in the Peace Corps, student work-study grants devoted to community service, and students enrolled in Army or Navy ROTC.

"From its founding, Knox College has been a leader in community service, and now it's part of the formal curriculum, as one of the ways to meet the new graduation requirement for experiential learning," Breitborde said. "Also, this year we opened a new Center for Community Service to help match students and employees with volunteer opportunities in the community."

The research score was based on institutional spending for research and the percentage of alumni who have gone on to receive doctoral degrees in graduate school.

"For more than thirty years, undergraduate research has been a mainstay of the Knox liberal arts education," Breitborde said. "By the time they graduate, more than 85 percent of all Knox students complete an independent research or creative project. Many of those projects are supported by the more than $200,000 in Knox College funding for student research. We believe that's one of the reasons Knox students are prepared for success at research in graduate school."

The access ranking -- what the magazine called "social mobility" -- measures how committed selective schools like Knox are to enrolling low-income students. It is based on the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, and on each school's predicted and actual graduation rates.

"Since its founding, Knox has been committed to access and affordability," Breitborde adds. "We're confident that when you put everything in perspective -- the opportunities, resources, experiences and accomplishments by students, faculty and alumni -- that Knox is a more remarkable college than any one ranking or group of rankings can possibly communicate."