For immediate release: Sept. 13, 2011

BLOOMSBURG — Bloomsburg University is once again listed as one of the best universities in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of U.S. colleges and universities.

In data released this week, U.S. News lists BU as number 94 of the Best Regional Universities for the northern region, tied with Slippery Rock University, Touro College of New York and York College of Pennsylvania.

Additionally, Bloomsburg is fourth among institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

Best Regional Universities ranks institutions that offer a full range of undergraduate degrees and some master’s degree programs but few, if any, doctoral degrees.

BU’s 81 percent retention rate (percentage of freshmen who return to school) is higher than the retention rate at several colleges that earned higher overall ratings, including Hood College, St. Bonaventure University and Rutgers University, and matches several colleges that earned higher overall ratings, such as Rider University and Salisbury University.

Bloomsburg’s graduation rate of 64 percent is higher than Millersville University, ranked as the top PASSHE institution with an overall rating at number 82.

With 93 percent full-time faculty, BU matches Husson University in Maine and is surpassed by just seven institutions in the northern region: College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Gallaudet University and these PASSHE institutions: Slippery Rock, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Edinboro and Lock Haven University.

Six hundred twenty-six universities are included in the Best Regional Universities rankings. Details on the rankings will be published in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges guidebook, available Sept. 20.

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university serves approximately 9,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Education, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.