Newsroom

Oxy Ranks High in Guides

Occidental was ranked 36th among the country's top liberal arts colleges, tied with New York's Bard College and Whitman College in Washington, and up five slots from last year.

This year's rankings mark the third consecutive year Occidental has improved its standing. Occidental was third in diversity among nationally ranked liberal arts colleges, behind Wellesley and Swarthmore, according to the news magazine. Were the magazine's "economic diversity" rankings (based on percentage of Pell Grant recipients) not limited to the top 25 schools, Occidental also would rank third, after Smith and Mount Holyoke.

Occidental was ranked 33rd among the nation's liberal arts colleges by Washington Monthly in its September issue, based on a rating system set up in deliberate contrast to U.S. News. The Monthly's rankings are based on three criteria: how well colleges perform as engines of social mobility; how well they foster scientific and humanistic research; and how well they promote an ethic of service to country.

The College also fared well in the newest editions of other college guides. Princeton Review's Best 361 Colleges reports that Occidental "has a rising star quality to it...The professors at Oxy are top quality and passionate about what they teach...Students say it is really easy to get independent study, internships, and grants that would 'not be offered to anywhere else to undergraduates.'" The Insider's Guide to the Colleges calls Oxy "a gem of a liberal arts college ... home to an incredibly active and involved student community. It's hard not to see Occidental's appeal when you visit the campus glistening and green in the L.A. sun." The Fiske Guide to Colleges calls Occidental "an urban oasis [in which] resides a thriving community of high achievers" and gives the College a four-star academic rating.