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US News & World Report Ranks New College #3
Among Public Liberal Arts Colleges

U.S. News & World Report named New College of Florida the country's #3 ranked public liberal arts college in its annual publication, America's Best Colleges. New College's Top 5 ranking came as part of the school's first-ever inclusion in the U.S. News & World Report listings and further validated the College's placement among the nation's leading public liberal arts colleges.

The U.S. News & World Report rankings are considered by many to be the most comprehensive review of American colleges and universities. The rankings are based on twelve separate indices, including graduation and retention rates, faculty and student data, selectivity and acceptance rates, financial resources, alumni giving, and peer evaluations from other institutions. During its 25-year affiliation with the University of South Florida and prior to gaining independent accreditation in 2004, New College was ineligible to be included in the rankings.

Overall, U.S. News ranked New College #88 in the country among all liberal arts colleges, a group that consists of some of the nation's oldest and most well-endowed private institutions. New College's solid placement within this group was highly commendable given the College's relatively short institutional history, young alumni base, and high acceptance rate of applicants.

New College officials celebrated the lofty ranking among public liberal arts colleges and expressed optimism that the school's overall ranking will improve steadily in the coming years as more people around the country learn about New College. During the past year alone, New College placed among the nation's leaders in Fulbright Fellowships, had a faculty member named the leading college-level math teacher in the state of Florida, and was named the nation's #1 value in public higher education by the Princeton Review.

Here is a look at this year's U.S. News & World Report Top 5 Public Liberal Arts Colleges:

• Virginia Military Insitute
  
• St. Mary's College of Maryland
  
• New College of Florida
  
• University of Minnesota - Morris
  
• University of North Carolina - Asheville