According to U.S. News and World Report, Wesleyan College ranks as one of America’s Best Colleges in four categories: National Liberal Arts Colleges, Least Graduation Debt, Most Diversity, and Most International Students.
Liberal arts colleges, as defined in the U.S. News listing, focus almost exclusively on undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the arts and sciences. Wesleyan’s mission is to provide an excellent liberal arts education for women. A liberal arts education means studying broadly—taking classes in many different subjects—and building skills that are geared toward more than just one profession. This type of education can develop intellectual ability and prepare students for many fields in today’s workplace. In a time when many liberal arts colleges face pressure to demonstrate that they adequately prepare students for the job market, Wesleyan’s unique four-year From Here to Career program helps students make connections between a liberal arts education and success in the workplace.
Wesleyan offers a comprehensive financial aid program. Ninety-nine percent of Wesleyan undergraduate students receive financial aid and 31% of full-time undergraduate students hold work-study jobs on campus.
A model of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inclusion and success, Wesleyan draws an eclectic mix of women from all across the United States and from more than 20 countries. On average, 15% of Wesleyan’s student population is international and approximately 40% of Wesleyan’s students are women of color. The small population on campus provides an ideal setting for all students to interact with each other on a personal level, and the diverse population provides students the opportunity to build relationships with people very different from themselves. These experiences improve the ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and collaborate harmoniously with others.
U.S. News’ rankings formula uses exclusively statistical quantitative and qualitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality including excellence as first-year student retention, graduation rates, and the strength of the faculty. In total, U.S. News has collected data on more than 1,800 independently regionally accredited institutions. While data for all schools appear on usnews.com, just shy of 1,400 schools were ranked.