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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowButler University has been rated the No. 1 regional university in the Midwest, according to the latest edition of U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges Rankings," released Monday.
After eight years of being ranked No. 2 in the category, Butler moved into a first-place tie with Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, the magazine said.
Butler also was ranked the No. 1 “Most Innovative School” among Midwest regional universities for the fourth straight year, as well as the top regional school for "Best Undergraduate Teaching."
Researchers said Butler scored high because of its high percentage of small classes (52 percent have fewer than 20 students), first-year students who were in the top 25 percent of their high school class (76 percent) and alumni giving rates (22 percent—higher than any of the 165 schools in the Midwest region).
“Butler’s recognition for exceptional teaching is particularly rewarding, since this is determined by leaders at our peer institutions,” Butler President James Danko said in a statement. “To have our faculty highlighted in this manner is a testament to their outstanding work.”
Two other Indiana schools finished in the top 10 in the ranking of Midwest regional universities: Valparaiso University at No. 5 and the University of Evansville at No. 7.
The University of Indianapolis and Marian University in Indianapolis finished in a tie for 38th in the category.
Regional universities are defined as offering a full range of undergraduate programs and some master's programs, but few doctoral programs. These rankings are split into four regions—north, south, Midwest, and West.
Taylor University of Upland, Indiana, finished No. 1 in the ranking of Midwest regional colleges, tied with Calvin College of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, finished No. 9 in the same category.
In the national universities category, the highest-ranked school in Indiana was the University of Notre Dame, at No. 18.
Purdue University in West Lafayette finished 56th in the same category and Indiana University in Bloomington was 89th.
Ball State University was No. 171 among national universities, IUPUI was No. 194, and Indiana State University finished among schools lumped together in the Nos. 230-301 ranking.
In the top public schools category, Purdue was 17th, IU was 38th, Ball State was 91st and IUPUI was 106th.
Purdue was ranked the sixth-most innovative school among national schools, No. 9 for its undergraduate engineering program and No. 1 for its biological/agricultural engineering program.
IU was No. 10 in business programs among national schools, including No. 3 in entrepreneurship.
For the 20th year in a row, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute finished No. 1 for best undergraduate engineering program at schools where doctorates aren’t offered. It was tied with Harvey Mudd College of Claremont California.
Princeton University repeated as the No. 1 national university, followed by Harvard University at No. 2, and Columbia University in New York and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a tie for third.
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