TU earns high marks among peers in U.S. News rankings

By Jan Lucas on Sept. 10, 2018

Towson University continues to earn kudos from U.S. News & World Report in the magazine’s 2019 America’s Best Colleges rankings.

Released today, the guide ranked TU 12th of out of 65 public institutions in its Best Regional (North) Public universities category. TU placed 10th in 2017 and 14th in 2016.

Towson University also occupies 50th place among ranked public and private institutions in the North. This category comprises 187 institutions. (With a few exceptions, all of the institutions in a category are ranked. However, U.S. News publishes rankings only for the top two-thirds.)

TU remains highest-ranked among University of Maryland System (USM) regional institutions, a list that includes Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Frostburg State University, Salisbury University, and the University of Baltimore.

Additionally, TU is among the colleges U.S. News chose for its unranked list of A+ Schools for B Students (Regional Universities – North). The magazine ranked TU 68th among Best Value Regional (North) Universities for 2019.

Today’s U.S. News & World Report announcement is the latest in a series of positive national rankings for Towson University. So far this year, TU has been recognized by the following: 

Money magazine: ranked Towson University among the nation’s Best Colleges, joining Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland, College Park, as the highest-ranked institutions in Maryland;

Forbes: once again named Towson University in its 2017 Best Colleges rankings;

Washington Monthly: ranked Towson University 64th — up 20 spots from 84th one year ago — among the 632 colleges and universities surveyed for its National Universities-Master’s category. Towson University was the highest ranked public university in Maryland. TU also ranked 56th out of 363 U.S. public and private universities on the magazine’s 2017 ‘Best Bang for the Buck –Northeast’ list.

U.S. News overall rankings are based on six categories: Outcomes (35%), Faculty Resources (20%), Expert Opinion (20%), Financial Resources (10%), Student excellence (10%), and Alumni giving (5%). Each category is composed of more specific measures.   

U.S. News calculated an overall score for each institution, which formed the basis of the rankings. The scores are whole numbers, which leads to many ties.

TU’s Office of Institutional Research, with the support of several campus departments, provided the data used by U.S. News for its rankings. 

For the complete list of Regional Universities (North) or to learn more about rankings methodology, visit the U.S. News & World Report website.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel's priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland and Strategic Plan Alignment.