This is the first year Wilkes is ranked as a national university which recognizes institutions with a breadth of academic programming and a commitment to research.
Wilkes University is ranked among top national universities in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges ranking of American colleges and universities. In the 2020 edition, Wilkes is ranked 211 among nearly 400 national universities.
This is the sixteenth consecutive year that Wilkes has been ranked and its first year as a national university. Schools in the national universities category offer a full range of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs and a demonstrated commitment to groundbreaking research.
Wilkes is also ranked as a top performer for social mobility. Introduced in 2020, the social mobility list measures how well schools educate and graduate students who receive Pell grants, the federal aid program reserved for the most financially needy students. Wilkes is ranked at 138 on a list of nearly 200 national universities.
This is the second time in recent weeks that Wilkes was recognized for social mobility. In northeast Pennsylvania, Wilkes is the “best bang for the buck” according to a Washington Monthly ranking that measures schools that help students pursue a marketable degree at an affordable price.
In this year’s first-year class at Wilkes, 37 percent of students are PELL-grant eligible, 18 percent are expecting a family contribution of zero dollars and 43 percent will be the first in their families to earn a bachelor’s degree.
“We are grateful to be recognized for impressive student outcomes while celebrating the students we choose to serve,” said interim University President Paul S. Adams. “Wilkes University’s unique commitment to both access and excellence allows us to be counted among some of the finest doctoral universities in the country.”
Wilkes is also recognized on U.S. News and World Report’s list of “A+ Schools for B Students.” The list looks at schools in the top three-fourths of their ranking category and their average first-year student retention rate.
U.S. News & World Report considers several factors in its ranking calculations, including academic profile, retention and graduation rates, financial resources and peer perception.
Wilkes jumped from a regional university to a national university after being named a doctoral university in the revised 2018 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The doctoral/professional university category includes institutions that award at least 20 research doctoral degrees or 30 or more professional-practice doctoral degrees. In the 2018-19 academic year, Wilkes awarded 160 doctoral degrees in doctor of pharmacy, doctor of nursing practice and doctor of education programs. Wilkes will award the university’s first doctor of philosophy degrees in 2020.
The Princeton Review included Wilkes on its “Best Northeastern Colleges” list. In 2015, the University was ranked 25th in the nation for economic value by The Economist.
