Jonah Hofmeyer—Staff Writer

According to U.S. News and World Report, Dordt University is ranked the highest University in Iowa in to their “Regional Universities (Midwest)” rankings. Out of 166 schools in the Midwest region, Dordt ranked ninth, tied with Augustana University and Otterbein University.

In previous years, Dordt was ranked with “Regional Colleges (Midwest)” instead of universities. According to Dordt’s website, the change was due to the growth of their graduate programs. Dordt’s dean of students Robert Taylor said it is the people that make Dordt high-ranking.

“If you have a student body that is focused on the right thing–getting a good education and being a good citizen within the community–you have a healthy learning environment,” Taylor said. “Then I would say the faculty and staff. The faculty cares and gets to know [their] students.”

Dordt was also ranked high in other categories from U.S News and World Report and third in “Most Innovative among Regional Universities (Midwest).” As the name suggests, this rank looks at how each university is making improvements in its curriculum, campus life, technology, and facilities.

Dordt ranked fourth in “Best Undergraduate Teaching among Regional Universities (Midwest).” This ranking evaluates the quality Dordt ranked top university in Iowaof undergrad education a student receives. Dordt’s engineering program was also listed as number 70 on the U.S. News and World Report’s “Undergraduate Engineering Programs”. It tied with several other schools.

Dordt ranked number 24 in “Best Value Schools,” a ranking assessing schools that provide the best value for students based on academic quality.

Dordt ranked 51 in Social Mobility among Regional Universities (Midwest), a ranking which highlights colleges that are “more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students.

”Dordt was also ranked an “A+ school for B students,” meaning that Dordt is a good fit for students that have “so-so” GPAs. Taylor says that it is great that Dordt is doing well in the rankings, but even without those rankings, they still want to remain dedicated to their mission.

“We know who we want to be, so we strive to line up with our mission,” Taylor said. “If other people take note of that and think there is something great about that, then that’s just encouragement for us that we’re on the right track.”