National publication rates University of St. Francis among best colleges

joliet — A national magazine ranked the University of St. Francis in Joliet as the fifth best college in the state and among the top 20% of the best colleges in the nation.

Money magazine included USF on its list of best colleges released earlier this month, according to a news release.

Money’s Best Colleges in America 2022 publication ranked USF fifth among the 26 colleges and universities in Illinois included in the rankings and 107th overall out of the 623 total ranked.

“High school students and parents looking at college, and adults looking at graduate school are right to be cautious about investing time and money into an educational program,” USF Vice President of Admissions Eric Wignall said in a statement. “A college degree can be worth millions of dollars over the course of one’s career. USF has designed degree programs that help our graduates launch truly valuable, meaningful careers.”

Wignall added it was “really gratifying” that Money recognized USF for offering its award-winning degree programs.

Money magazine only included U.S. colleges which had sufficient, reliable data for it to analyze, according to the news release. In order to make the list, a college’s graduation rate must be at or above the median for its institutional category, which include public, private or historically Black colleges and universities.

Alternatively, it must fall within the top 25% of its “value-added” graduation analysis, meaning the graduation rate needs to be higher than would be expected for colleges that enroll similar students.