Wagner College drops 2 spots but retains its top 25 ranking

Wagner College dropped two slots in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of the nation's colleges but managed to stay in its category's top 25 for the fourth consecutive year.

Tied with three other schools for 25th place among comparable universities in the northern region of the country, Wagner also was listed in three categories under "Programs to Look For," a subsection of the report that lets top college officials select noteworthy academic programs.

"The fact that Wagner continues to be in the top 25 is really good news for the college and it's a validation of the quality of the Wagner plan and its attractiveness to students," said John Ross, a spokesman for the college.

It tied with Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland and Nazareth College of Rochester in New York. Villanova University in Pennsylvania ranked first in the northern region among schools without doctoral programs.

The full 2007 "America's Best Colleges," which, along with the rankings contains a step-by-step guide to getting into college, choosing the right fit and paying for school, hits newsstands Monday.

The Island's other major institutions of higher learning also received mention in the rankings, with their placements relatively unchanged from last year's edition.

St. John's University, which comprises the Grymes Hill, Jamaica, Manhattan and Suffolk County campuses, remained in the third tier, which includes schools ranked 127th through 182nd, out of the national universities. In that tier, St. John's had the highest positive difference -- 17 -- between predicted graduation rate (47 percent) and actual graduation rate (64 percent) in 2005.

Willowbrook's College of Staten Island also stayed put in the fourth tier of universities in the northern region of the country, placing between 127th and 165th overall. The data provided showed that 2005 was a good year to apply to the school, as it accepted 99 percent of applicants, the highest percentage of any comparable school in the northern region.

Among all universities, Princeton University edged out Harvard University for the top slot for the first time in four years.

During the prior three years, the two schools had tied for first place, followed by Yale University, which once again placed third.

Yoav Gonen covers education news for the Advance. He may be reached at gonen@siadvance.com.