Whitman College Climbs Nine Spots on U.S. News & World Report Rankings

In its annual rankings released earlier today, U.S. News & World Report recognized Whitman as No. 38 on its list of National Liberal Arts Colleges, up from No. 47 last year. Whitman numbers among the select institutions featured in the 2022 edition of the U.S. News Best Colleges guidebook, available in print later this fall.   

“While we don’t rely on outside rankings to tell our story, it’s always gratifying when they affirm what we already know: that this is a very special place to live and learn,” said President Kathleen Murray. “We know many families look at these rankings when they are making college decisions and are very proud to see Whitman again acknowledged as one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the country.”

U.S. News & World Report uses 17 measures of academic quality to assess the nation’s 1,466 bachelor’s degree-granting institutions, and from there crafts a shortlist of colleges to highlight across various categories. Their calculations take into consideration factors such as student-faculty ratio, retention and average federal student loan debt after graduation.

Whitman scored particularly highly this year on faculty resources, alumni giving and graduation rate, earning its best overall score since 2014. Once again, the rankings reveal Whitman as the top liberal arts college in the region: other Northwest schools on the list include Puget Sound (No. 85), Lewis and Clark (No. 82), Willamette (No. 71) and Reed (No. 62). 

Whitman’s score came in just below Oberlin and tied with Bucknell, Skidmore and Lafayette, beating out Occidental, St. Olaf and Franklin and Marshall. Whitman regularly receives accolades from rankings companies including the Princeton Review, Forbes and others on a range of metrics from classroom experience to quality of life.