Posted on Aug 18, 2006

The 2007 edition of top college guide U.S.News & World Report's America's Best Colleges has recognized Murray State University for the 16th consecutive year as one of the best public schools in the nation. Murray State University fared well when compared by overall score to other top ranking public universities in the North, South, Midwest and West. According to the overall score among public master's universities, Murray ranked ninth among publics in the nation for the second year running. Top Public Universities By Overall Score - Master's / Nation 1. James Madison University (VA) 2. University of Mary Washington (VA) 3. The Citadel (SC) 4. College of New Jersey 5. College of Charleston (SC) 6. Truman State University (MO) 7. Appalachian State University (NC) 8. Cal. Poly. - San Luis Obispo 9. Murray State University 10. SUNY Col. Arts & Sciences - Geneseo In the individual category of Best Universities - Master's, Murray topped its 2006 ranking by moving up two spots to 15th in the South among both public and private universities, making it the highest ranked Kentucky school on the list. MSU has the distinction of being the only Kentucky university to be ranked in the top tier for 16 consecutive years. Murray State also held onto its sixth-place ranking in the South in the Top Public Universities - Master's list this year. MSU was the only Kentucky university ranked in this group. Known as a university where students can get a quality education at an affordable price, Murray was selected by U.S.News as a great school at a great price. For the fourth time the guide recognized Murray State, along with The Citadel, as one of only two public universities in the nation to make the grade in the category of Great Schools, Great Prices / Universities - Master's. “It is wonderful to see the national recognition that Murray Sate is once again receiving from the U.S.News college guide - the prominence we gain from this ranking is vital to our recruiting efforts. And all of us know that MSU enjoys this success year after year due to the hard work and tremendous efforts of our students, faculty and staff,” said Dr. Randy Dunn, president-elect of Murray State University. Seen as the premier college guide in the country, U.S.News & World Report's America's Best Colleges provides an excellent starting point for students and parents who are searching out universities because it offers the opportunity for readers to judge the quality of schools based on widely accepted indicators of excellence. “The U.S.News rankings system rests on two pillars. It relies on quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality, and it's based on our nonpartisan view of what matters in education,” noted guide editors, Robert J. Morse and Samuel Flanigan. The indicators used to measure academic quality are peer assessment, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate. Murray State University has been consistently recognized in the past for its high quality, affordable education and its unique setting. In addition to U.S.News, the university has been highly ranked by The Princeton Review, Money Guide, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Southern Living, the MIT Student Review and a Carnegie Mellon study. Murray State has also been featured in The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education and The London Times. The 2007 guide goes on sale on newsstands on Monday, Aug. 21, and can be accessed online on Friday, Aug. 18.