(Posted September 15, 2014)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College leaped 45 slots as the liberal arts college rose to 133rd in the 2015 Forbes.com College Rankings, which rates all colleges and universities nationwide. Juniata's 133 ranking is out of 3,500 colleges and universities. Juniata ranked 178th in last year's poll.

The colleges and universities in the Forbes.com poll that are ranked with Juniata are: Willamette University in Salem Ore., at 130th; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., at 131st; Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, at 132nd; Juniata at 133rd; American University in Washington, D.C., at 134th; University of Delaware in Newark, Del., at 135th; and the College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio, at 136th.

"It's gratifying to be recognized as a college that supports its students above and beyond the duties of the classroom. The faculty and staff at Juniata are never content to 'sit on their laurels.' The college is always searching for ways to improve the college and our students' educational experience."

James A. Troha, president

In other rankings publications, Juniata rose to 30th out of 67 institutions rated in the Washington Monthly 2014 "Best Bang for Your Buck" College Rankings, a magazine poll that measures "the economic value students receive per dollar." Juniata was 36th in last year's rankings. Juniata was rated 101st in Washington Monthly's larger Best Liberal Arts Colleges poll.

"The financial responsibility of providing a college education for our children is probably the top issue in higher education today. Rankings that tease out colleges and universities that provide top value for the financial investment are sorely needed," says James A. Troha, president of Juniata College.

Juniata received another endorsement on affordability as Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine ranked Juniata 81st out of 100 liberal arts colleges in its "Best Values in Private Colleges" 2014 rankings. Juniata was 97th in last year's ratings.

In the prestigious U.S. News & World Report 2015 Rankings, Juniata College was named as an "A+ Schools for B Students" among national liberal arts colleges. In the overall U.S. News & World Report Rankings released Sept. 9. Juniata was ranked 105th in the Top Liberal Arts Colleges in the magazine's annual poll.

U.S. News' "A+ Schools for B Students" rankings are derived from two variables: the institution's performance in the last U.S. News poll and the college's average freshman retention rate. The ranking for this section seeks to identify students in and institutions whose "spirit and hard work can make all the difference to admissions."

Juniata is one of six colleges from Pennsylvania to be included in the prestigious ranking. The others are Allegheny College, Grove City College, Muhlenberg College, Susquehanna University and Washington & Jefferson College

"It's gratifying to be recognized as a college that supports its students above and beyond the duties of the classroom," Troha says. "The faculty and staff at Juniata are never content to 'sit on their laurels.' The college is always searching for ways to improve the college and our students' educational experience."

Juniata shares its 105th national ranking with six other institutions: Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.; Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa; Goucher College in Baltimore, Md.; Hamden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, Va.; Stonehill College, in North Easton, Mass.; and Washington College, in Chestertown, Md.

Other Pennsylvania colleges in the U.S. News Top 100 are: Swarthmore College (3rd); Haverford College (8th); Bryn Mawr College (27th); Bucknell University (32nd); Lafayette College (35th); Dickinson College and Franklin & Marshall College and (37th); Gettysburg College (50th); Muhlenberg College (64th); Allegheny College (81st); and Washington & Jefferson College (96th).

Additionally, Juniata also was included in the "Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013," one of more than 300 institutions rated by the prestigious guide. Juniata also remains one of just 40 colleges featured in the recently updated and overhauled college guidebook "Colleges That Change Lives," by a former New York Times education editor, the late Loren Pope. The new edition is by Hilary Masell Oswald.

Finally, Juniata was chosen as one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to the Princeton Review, the New York-based company known for its education, admission and test-prep services. Juniata was selected for the Princeton Review annual college guide "The Best 379 Colleges."

According to guidelines established by the Carnegie Foundation and adopted by U.S. News, institutions that award at least 50 percent of their undergraduate degrees in liberal arts are defined as liberal arts schools.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.