For the first time, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has climbed into Washington Monthly’s Top 40 for master’s universities in the nation. SIUE is first among all master’s institutions in Illinois on the national magazine’s list.
Unlike conventional college rankings, Washington Monthly evaluates an institution’s “contribution to the public good” in three broad categories: Social Mobility – recruiting and graduating low-income students; Research – producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs; and Service – encouraging students to give something back to their country.
“Moving up in Washington Monthly’s annual rankings is particularly noteworthy as we position SIUE among the top universities in the Midwest,” said SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe. “Our students’ strong commitment to community service demonstrates that we follow through on our mission to encourage students to be highly engaged, productive citizens.”
Washington Monthly ranked SIUE 40th overall in the Master’s Universities category, which includes 671 public and private institutions. SIUE jumped from 57th in last year’s rankings. View the entire list here.
SIUE ranked No. 8 in expenditures for research, having invested more than $30 million in research and public service projects in fiscal year 2013. This investment allows a significant number of SIUE students at the graduate and undergraduate levels the opportunity to participate in research projects in their fields of study.
Under the service sub-category, SIUE was ranked eighth in the percent of federal work study funds dedicated to students employed in community service programs.
SIUE students have many opportunities to work on service projects throughout the year through the University’s Kimmel Student Involvement Center. Students completed nearly 280,000 service hours during the 2013-14 academic year. Those service hours include service-learning hours through coursework, volunteer projects, the SIUE Experience service day, scholarship service requirements, the AmeriCorps America Reads program and student organizations that track their service hours.