Georgia Southern University Named One of Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges by Kiplinger

Georgia Southern University has been named one of the Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges by Kiplinger, a leading publisher of personal finance and business forecasts. This is the second year in a row that Georgia Southern has appeared in the rankings.

“Georgia Southern University remains committed to providing our students with exceptional academic opportunities,” said Georgia Southern University President Brooks Keel. “We are very pleased that Kiplinger has again chosen Georgia Southern as one of the most outstanding values in the country. Now more than ever, it is important for parents and students to know that they are receiving the most for their educational investment.”

Georgia Southern University was one of only four Georgia schools to be ranked in 2010. Kiplinger bases its rankings on outstanding academic quality, affordable tuition and the availability of financial aid. Student/faculty ratios and on-time graduation rates are also factors.

“Record numbers of students continue to apply to Georgia Southern University. We offer a nationally-ranked College of Business Administration and the only College of Information Technology in the Southeast. Our nursing and education programs have been recognized for years as leaders in Georgia,” said Keel. “Our students also have the opportunity to interact with professors and conduct research alongside faculty. This kind of learning experience is one of the many things that makes Georgia Southern unique and helps us to stand out from other colleges and universities in the country.”

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Georgia Southern University Named One of Kiplinger’s Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges

Georgia Southern University has for the first time been named one of the Top 100 Best Values by Kiplinger, a noted personal finance and business forecasting company.

Georgia Southern is one of only three Georgia universities to be recognized in the annual list that helps parents of prospective students identify outstanding universities that not only provide a good education for their sons or daughters, but offer an outstanding investment. The other two Georgia institutions named to the list include the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia.

“We are very pleased to be recognized as one of the best values in the country,” said Dr. Teresa Thompson, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Georgia Southern University. “While Georgia Southern University has continued to grow, we have done so in a way that allows us to attract outstanding students from across the country and around the world. Parents are recognizing the value of a Georgia Southern education and students are applying at record numbers.”

Kiplinger bases its college rankings on a combination of outstanding academic quality and affordable tuition. The publication examines nationwide data from more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities provided to Peterson's/Nelnet. The list is then narrowed to about 120 schools based on several measures of academic quality, including the percentage of the 2008-09 freshman class scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT (or scoring 24 or higher on the ACT), admissions rates, freshmen retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates.

This year, Georgia Southern University announced enrollment of 17,764 students, freshman retention of 81 percent and an average freshman SAT score of 1,111. Each was an all-time high for the growing University.

Kiplinger also ranks each school based on cost and financial aid. The rankings look at total cost for in-state students (tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books) along with several other factors.

“Georgia Southern University has undergone a period of incredible growth, not only in size, but in quality,” said Thompson. “We are proud of our accomplishments and the work of our students, faculty and staff.”

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Mercer Law School Graduates Pass State Bar Exam in Record Margin

More than 95 percent of Mercer University School of Law graduates who took the Georgia Bar Examination for the first time in July passed, according to the annual report released Nov. 3 by the Georgia Office of Bar Admissions.

The first-time pass rate of 95.8 percent for Mercer Law School graduates is the highest first-time pass rate at the law school this decade. Since 2001, Mercer’s first-time pass rate has been as high as 94.2 percent. The score this year is a testament to the dedicated faculty and extraordinary law school students who are trained at Mercer, said Dean Daisy Hurst Floyd.

“I am enormously proud of how our graduates performed this year on the state bar examination,” Dean Floyd said. “I am equally proud of our faculty, administration and staff who work tirelessly each day to help our students become exemplary lawyers who will join the legal profession with excellent skills, integrity, and a commitment to service. The fact that our graduates performed so well on the state bar exam is yet another confirmation of the quality of legal education provided at Mercer University School of Law.”

Mercer Law School is ranked among the Top 100 law schools in the United States, and its legal writing program is the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 ranking of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” The law school’s public interest law program was recently ranked No. 6 in the nation by preLaw Magazine.

“We are delighted for all our graduates who passed the bar,” said Mary S. Donovan, assistant dean for student affairs at Mercer Law School. “We look forward to seeing all their good work in practice.”

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