Wagner on U.S. News 'Up-and-Coming Schools' list

2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings released this morning

            STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., Aug. 22, 2008 — Wagner College was the only New York City school to be named to a new list of “Up-and-Coming Schools” in the 2009 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” guide.

            A U.S. News survey of college presidents, provosts and admissions deans identified 70 schools nationwide “that have recently made striking improvements or innovations — schools everyone should be watching.” Wagner College ranked #2 on this “Schools to Watch” list in the subcategory of northern universities that award master’s degrees.

            Wagner College also maintained a spot on U.S. News’ overall Top 25 ranking for northern master’s universities, tying for the Number 23 position. The school has been on the Top 25 list for five years running.

            “It is gratifying to see that our innovative curriculum, the Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts, is now being recognized for the pioneering program that it is,” said Wagner President Richard Guarasci, “and it is always nice to be listed among so many other fine institutions.”

            “Being recognized by our peers is great validation for all the innovative programs we implemented a decade ago at Wagner,” said Angelo Araimo, Wagner’s vice president for enrollment and planning, referring to the initiation of the Wagner Plan. “As U.S. News notes in the introduction to the section on ‘Up and Coming Schools,’ overall college rankings do not change very much from year to year — but great changes are taking place, nonetheless. This shows that the changes Wagner has been making are being noticed throughout the country.” 

‘Programs to look for’

            Wagner’s name also appeared on three of the eight nationwide “Programs to Look For” lists that appear in the “America’s Best Colleges” guide: “First-Year Experience,” “Learning Communities” and “Service Learning.” According to the U.S. News guide, its “Programs to Look For” are “academic programs that are commonly linked to student success.”

            “College presidents, chief academic officers and deans of admission [are invited] to nominate up to 10 institutions with stellar examples of each kind of program,” the guide explained. “Colleges and universities that were mentioned most often are listed” on the various program lists, each of which contain between 14 and 32 schools.

            Wagner’s program for first-year students has been widely recognized in recent years by a number of professional higher education organizations, including TIAA-CREF, which presented the college with its prestigious Hesburgh Award in 2005.

            Wagner College’s learning communities — small groups of students and interdisciplinary faculty studying together — were praised by the Association of American Colleges and Universities in 2004.

            The service-learning component of the Wagner Plan curriculum brings all students into the community for service projects and non-profit internships throughout their undergraduate education. Collectively, Wagner students invest more than 80,000 hours each year in a wide variety of general and special-focus community activities. The White House has recognized Wagner’s commitment to service learning and civic engagement for the last two years, placing Wagner College on its Community Service Honor Roll for 2007 and 2008.