U.S. News Ranks JPCatholic Among Top Western Colleges
Of the 104 schools in the region, JPCatholic is ranked #10 overall, along with #3 in Best Value
September 24, 2024 | Escondido, CA
U.S. News & World Report, one of the go-to sources for national college rankings, placed John Paul the Great Catholic University at #10 in its list of Best Regional Colleges West for 2025. Among the 104 schools of the Regional Colleges West category, JPCatholic ranks #10 overall (tie) and #3 in Best Value.
This marks the second consecutive year that JPCatholic’s ranking has risen in both categories.
“These consistently high rankings are a great testimony to the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff in providing an outstanding student experience,” said founding president Dr. Derry Connolly. “It serves as an independent and external affirmation to students and parents of the great value offered in the education and formation at JPCatholic. We are very proud of what it represents – praise God.”
The announcement comes at an exciting time of growth for the university; a new Creative Arts Complex is scheduled to open next year, more than doubling JPCatholic’s academic space in downtown Escondido. The University also recently announced a new Fashion Design emphasis within the BFA in Visual Arts.
Every year the publication conducts extensive research of schools across the nation, first by arranging them into various subcategories (national universities, liberal arts colleges, regional colleges, etc.) and then ranking them within those categories according to a wide array of metrics. Rankings are driven primarily by quantitative data; that is, by measurable quantities such as retention rate and student-faculty ratio, rather than opinion surveys or third-party oversight. See methodology
The category “Regional Colleges” refers to schools that focus primarily on undergraduate education, but that grant fewer than half of their degrees in the liberal arts. JPCatholic meets these criteria because, although the humanities and liberal arts form a substantial part of the undergraduate core curriculum, our BA in Humanities is just one out of the four bachelors degrees offered.
The many Regional Colleges throughout the nation are then grouped according to geographic region: North, South, Midwest and West. The West region, which covers 15 states, is by far the largest geographically, extending from the Pacific coast through Texas and including Alaska and Hawaii.