Points of Pride
National Recognition
- For 19 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges" guidebook has ranked the University among the 10 top master's universities in the North, the survey's largest and most competitive region. In the 2013 edition of "Best Colleges," Scranton placed 10th in the North. The University was one of just 27 institutions included in a national listing of “stellar examples” of schools with “A Focus on Student Success." In addition, Scranton was included in an online listing of just 49 “up and coming” colleges in the nation and was named in a listing of “A-Plus Schools for B Students.”
- The University's MBA program is among the top 15 in the nation for general management according to a national ranking of business schools published by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review.
- For the past 11 years, The Princeton Review has included Scranton among its “377 Best Colleges.” Outstanding academics is the primary criteria for inclusion in the book, which lists only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges.
.The University of Scranton was included in three of The Princeton Review’s “Best 376 Colleges” rankings, including “Best Campus Food” (12) and “Most Religious Students (19).
- Scranton is one of only 100 colleges and universities in the nation to be named to Templeton Foundation’s Honor Roll of Character-Building Colleges.
- For five consecutive years, Scranton has ranked among the nation’s elite universities included in Forbes magazine’s online listing of “America’s Best Colleges.” The magazine ranked Scranton No. 293 among the 650 universities in the nation selected. The University is among 25 Jesuit institutions and 43 colleges in Pennsylvania to make the national ranking.
- Scranton is among just 119 colleges in the nation named to the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement in 2008.
- The University ranked as the 25th “Healthiest” college in the United States, according to an April 2012 listing posted on Greatist.com, an online source for health and fitness information.
- In a July 2011 article titled “The Friendliest Colleges,” published by The Huffington Post, Scranton was ranked among the eight most pleasant colleges in the country.
- Scranton is ranked among the top 50 service-oriented colleges listed in the September/October 2011 issue of Washington Monthly, which measured how well universities are meeting their public obligations of providing research, service and social mobility.
- The University is listed among the 198 colleges in the nation included in the 11th edition of Barron’s “Best Buys in College Education.”
- Scranton is among just 100 universities in the nation — and one of just seven institutions in Pennsylvania — listed in Kiplinger’s “Best Values in Private Colleges,” a ranking measuring "academic quality and affordability.”
- The University was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2012, the highest federal recognition colleges and universities can receive for their commitment to volunteering, service learning and civic engagement. Just 513 colleges in the nation and 45 institutions from Pennsylvania were named to the 2012 President’s Community Service Honor Roll.
- For eight consecutive years, the University’s Kania School of Management has been included among The Princeton Review’s “Best 296 Business Schools.”
- GI Jobs has listed Scranton among the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools in the nation as a Military Friendly School.
- "Don’t go to Harvard, but to the business school at The University of Scranton. That’s where they are changing lives.” Peter F. Drucker, The “Father of Modern Management” Source: The Los Angeles Times, Nov. 11, 2005.
Academic Excellence
- Since 1972, 139 graduates of The University of Scranton have earned Fulbrights or other prestigious international fellowships. For the past eight years, The Chronicle of HigherEducationhaslisted the University among the "top producers" of Fulbright awards for American students. The University is among just 17 “Master’s Institutions” in the nation making The Chronicle's list for the 2012-2013 academic year.
- In the last 10 years, Scranton students earned five Truman Scholarships and 10 Goldwater Scholarships.
- In the past 10 years, six students were named to USA Today’s All-USA College Academic Team.
- Scranton’s average fall-to-fall freshman retention rate is 88%. The average rate, nationally, for selective Bachelor’s/Master’s institutions is 80.2%. (Please note that the "average rate" is the average of the last four years.)
- Scranton’s six-year graduation rate averages 80%. The average rate, nationally, for selective Bachelor’s/Master’s institutions is 66.8%. (Please note that the "average rate" is the average of the last four years.)
- Scranton has earned accreditation from 17 different accrediting agencies, including recognition by the nation’s most prestigious bodies in the fields of business and management, nursing, computer science, physical therapy, occupational therapy, chemistry and counseling.
- The student-to-faculty ratio is 12:1, and the average class size* is approximately 20. (*Average size undergraduate lecture sections fall 2012)
- 85% of faculty members hold doctoral degrees and 67% are tenured. Members of the faculty hold degrees from 289 different universities in 25 countries on five continents.
- More than 50% of students in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics participate in research; 45% of these students wrote a formal thesis and 38% of these students authored or coauthored a publication and/or conference paper.
- Carrying on a tradition that spans more than three decades, Scranton students from nearly every undergraduate degree program have studied abroad. Since 2005, students have studied in 41 different countries. Several hundred Scranton students study abroad each year.
- The University’s NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletics program has produced 29 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans since 1981. In addition, 15 graduates have earned NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships since 1974.
- In the past two years, Scranton students have completed internships for credit at 380 organizations in 12 states. Students participate in both credit and non-credit internship experiences.
- The University’s Center for Service and Social Justice has a roster of 2,850 students who perform well over 170,000 service hours each year.
- Students from other countries have studied at the University for more than 50 years. In the past five years, the University has enrolled graduate and undergraduate students from 39 countries.
Successful Outcomes
- Ninety-four percent of the class of 2011 was employed, pursuing graduate or professional studies, or volunteering full time within six months of graduation.
- Of the 522 senior applicants to health professions schools over the last 13 years, an average of 78% were accepted to schools of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, podiatry and optometry. During that same period, 80% of 191 alumni, present graduate students, post-baccalaureate students and reapplicants to health professions schools have gained acceptance.
- In the past six years, nearly 300 Scranton graduates have received acceptance into at least 70 law schools throughout the United States. These include some of the nation’s most prestigious schools, such as the University of California at Berkeley, Boston College, Cornell University, Duke University, Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania.
- Since 1983, a total of 493 University of Scranton graduates have chosen full-time volunteer service over employment. A total of 247 of these Scranton graduates have volunteered with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
Economic Impact
- The University estimates that 1,782 jobs can be directly or indirectly attributed to our presence in the region. Our students report spending a collective average of $1.4 million off campus each month and since 2004, the institution has hosted 4,051 community events, waiving more than $386,000 in room usage fees.
- Since 2003, the University has invested more than $237 million in campus improvements, either completed or under way. In 2011, Pilarz and Montrone Halls, which house nearly 400 upperclass students and a fitness center, opened. The new Loyola Science Center was completed in two phases in 2011 and 2012.
- In 2011, the University’s Small Business Development Center provided more than 800 clients with more than 5,500 hours of service to help them start, operate or expand their small businesses in eight Northeastern Pennsylvania counties. SBDC staff facilitated more than 30 educational programs in 2011 with close to 300 attendees.
