<p>Congratulations to Chapman University and to Jim Doti on an impressive U.S. News rankings! As a parent of a Chapman student, I sincerely appreciate the university's outstanding work in providing great value for a quality academic education. Glad to be a part of the Chapman's community. I thought I would share this memo by Jim Doti with those of you who are seeking a university. Chapman is truly an amazing school! We wish Chapman all the best and continued success. Go Panthers!</p>
<p>"MEMORANDUM
DATE: September 15, 2011
TO: The Chapman Community
FROM: Jim Doti</p>
<p>SUBJECT: U. S. News & World Report Rankings
I am pleased to report that Chapman moved up one place in U.S. News & World Reports ranking of Best Regional Universities West, from a rank of 8 last year to a rank of 7 this year. This marks the fourth consecutive year that we have moved up in the rankings as well as being in the top-10 schools in our category.
More important, though, than the ranking change for any single year is the trend over a longer period of time. In that regard, Chapmans rise from a rank of 61 among 112 schools in 1990-91 (45th percentile) to a rank of 7 among 120 schools in 2010-11 (94th percentile) is the sharpest increase over that time for any college or university in the nation.
Chapman is also the only school in the nation to appear in the Up-and-Comers list every year since this list first appeared in 2008. It includes the institutions most often cited by the college presidents, chief academic officers and admission officers surveyed for the U.S. News rankings as having made the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, student life, campus or facilities.
Chapman first appeared on another U.S. News list, Great Schools, Great Prices in 2004 and has maintained its position there ever since. In determining which colleges and universities offer students the best value, U.S. News considers a schools academic quality, based on its ranking, and the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the value.
The overall rank is determined by category rankings that include academic reputation, student selectivity, faculty resources, financial resources, graduation and retention, and alumni giving. As one would expect from our step upward in the overall ranking, we made subtle improvements in these categories, with the exception of alumni support, where we declined.
It is important to note that in the all-important category of student selectivity, we moved up one place to the #1 rank. It is particularly gratifying that this category, which is so closely tied to the intellectual life of our campus, is where we have made the greatest improvement over the last 20 years.
The U.S. News rankings are closely watched by other institutions as well as prospective students and faculty. They are valuable as an objective source of information that not only allows for relative comparisons among different institutions but also serves as a measure of our own improvement.
The methodology used in compiling the U.S. News rankings is extremely comprehensive, taking into account data that reflect almost every facet of an institution. This points to the fact that each and every one of us has contributed to our steady, upward progress in the rankings and has a right to feel very proud of the progress we have made. With your efforts, our university has become one of the most vibrant, dynamic institutions in the nation. And with such a strong team of people in our community, I have no doubt that Chapman will continue to make forward progress."</p>