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In annual US News rankings, Xavier among best HBCUs and regional schools
Several Louisiana universities ranked among the top in various categories according to the 2022-2023 US News and World Report rankings released Monday. The annual ratings evaluated data from more than 1,500 schools and evaluated them according to 17 data points, including graduation rates, social mobility, faculty compensation and peer assessment surveys.
In addition to making the top 10 Historic Black Colleges and Universities, Xavier of Louisiana was also named a top regional school, defined as those with a full range of undergraduate programs, some master’s degree programs but few doctoral programs. The New Orleans campus was ranked 14th out of 136 schools in the regional category.
Also making the regional list were Northwestern State (80th), Nicholls State (83rd), LSU-Shreveport and McNeese State (tied at 88th).
LSU received the best ranking among public universities in the state, at 176th among all schools and 87th for public universities. Its petroleum engineering program was rated No. 5 in the country.
In a statement, LSU President William Tate predicted that LSU will soon rank higher.
“In the last year alone, LSU has broken records in the amount of research dollars received, the number of students we educated, the level of philanthropy support given and the quality of academic recognition received by our faculty,” Tate said. “With the strategies we now have in place, you will see LSU make even greater gains in short order, which will be reflected in rankings and other external validations of quality.”
Four schools in the University of Louisiana System made the list: Louisiana Tech (317th), Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe and the University of New Orleans (all tied at 331st).
No other school in the LSU system made the national list, which included 443 of the 1,500-plus schools assessed, due to their status as regional colleges.
For top performers in social mobility, defined as schools that enroll and graduate a large proportion of disadvantaged students awarded Pell Grants, Centenary College, a private Methodist university in Shreveport, was ranked eighth in the nation. Dillard University was the only other Louisiana school to make the social mobility list with a rank of 33rd.
Other schools ranked for social mobility among regional universities in the South, including Grambling State, which ranked at 17th out of 135 schools.
