Once again, Kent State University has earned a coveted spot in the first-tier list in the Best National Universities category with its inclusion in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report. Kent State ranks 194 on the prestigious list, improving from last year’s ranking of 201.

Kent State is the only public university in Northeast Ohio to make the first tier. This is the fourth time in five years that Kent State has appeared on the first tier of the Best National Universities rankings.

"Among many things, the rankings track retention and graduation rates, which have reached record levels at Kent State,” said Todd Diacon, Kent State’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, on Sept. 9 when the rankings were announced. “We are pleased that this year's ranking confirms both the hard work of our students, faculty and staff, and that Kent State is a first choice school for Ohio high school graduates."

The rankings are based on several key measures of quality. The scoring breakdown of the measures and their weighting is graduation and retention rates (22.5 percent), assessment of excellence (22.5 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (12.5 percent), financial resources (10 percent), graduation rate performance (7.5 percent) and alumni giving (5 percent).

Going forward, Kent State is reporting the highest retention rate in its 104-year history at 81.7 percent, up from 77.6 percent last year. This represents the percentage of freshmen who continue their studies at the university for their sophomore year.

The 2015 rankings are posted online at www.usnews.com/colleges. They also will appear in the print edition of the “Best Colleges 2015” guidebook that can be purchased online or on newsstands Sept. 23.

For more information about U.S. News & World Report’s Best College 2015 edition, visit www.usnews.com/colleges.

For more information about Kent State, visit www.kent.edu.

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Media Contact:

Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797