St. Mary’s Recognized Again for Service, Quality

For the second year in a row, St. Mary’s is high on Washington Monthly magazine’s list of master’s universities that promote community service, foster scientific and humanistic research and make a quality education accessible and affordable.

St. Mary’s is listed second in the nation in the magazine’s 2011 “College Rankings – What Can Colleges Do for the Country,” a list recognizing schools that excel at contributing to the public good based on three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students to give back to their community). Although Washington Monthly has been publishing its list since 2005, this is only the second year it has included a master’s institution category. Last year, St. Mary’s ranked first.

“For the second year in row, Washington Monthly has recognized the outstanding commitment of St. Mary’s University to both service and accessibility for all students,” said Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D., St. Mary’s University President. “The University’s students, faculty, staff and the Marianists should be proud to receive this recognition, which is a true testament to how we strive to live the University’s Catholic and Marianist mission both in the classroom and in the community. It is particularly noteworthy that this recognition takes into account graduation rates, recognizing St. Mary’s for welcoming all students and then helping them succeed.”

A significant portion of the data used to determine rankings was derived from applications to the Corporation for National and Community Service’s President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. St. Mary’s University was recently awarded that organization’s Presidential Award, the highest federal honor for service and civic engagement in higher education.

Additionally, The Carnegie Foundation has given St. Mary’s its prestigious Community Engagement Classification with recognized the University’s institutional focus on service and civic engagement.