Hollins University has been named the number 23 “Top Performer on Social Mobility” among National Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News & World Report for its 2022-23 Best Colleges rankings.
The “Top Performers on Social Mobility” ranking measures the extent schools enroll and graduate students who receive federal Pell Grants.
U.S. News annually evaluates more than 1,450 colleges and universities on up to 17 measures of academic quality to determine its Best Colleges. This year, Hollins is ranked number 102 overall in the National Liberal Arts Colleges category, and is also cited by the publication as an “A-plus School for B Students.”
“To judge the level of quality at each institution on the ‘A-plus Schools for B Students’ lists, U.S. News first examined two variables: the school’s performance in the 2022-23 edition of the Best Colleges rankings and the average freshman retention rate,” the publication reported. “Since the U.S. News rankings are a gauge of excellence, schools in National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities and Regional Colleges all had to first be ranked in the top three-fourths of their 2022-2023 Best Colleges ranking categories to be eligible for the A-plus Schools for B Students ranking list.” In addition, U.S. News noted, “colleges had to admit a meaningful proportion of students who didn’t get straight As in high school.”
“For nearly 40 years, the Best Colleges methodology has continuously evolved to reflect changes in the higher education landscape and the interests of prospective students,” said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News. “Guiding that evolution is U.S. News‘ mission of providing useful data and information to prospective students and their families to help with one of life’s biggest decisions.”
The U.S. News 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings were released to the public on September 12.
