A published report by the 2004 edition of U.S. News ‘ World Report has placed Fairfield University number three amongst the best universities in the North with master’s degree programs.
Fairfield has been honored for its freshmen class ranking in the top 25 percent of its high school class. Fairfield maintains a selective acceptance rate of 50 percent, and 89 percent of the freshmen class remain at the university for sophomore year. Statistics obtained from the class of 2006 demonstrated a high peer assessment score.
The two schools named above Fairfield are Villanova University and Providence College.
“I’m really pleased with the consistency Fairfield has demonstrated in the rankings,” said Dr. Orin Grossman, academic vice president. “This is a somewhat volatile system, and yet we have remained in the second, third, or fourth position over the past 13 years.”
The stature and commitment of the faculty, along with an increasingly talented student body, contributed to Fairfield’s recognition by the U.S. News ‘ World Report, as well as other college guides, including the Fiske Guide to Colleges, The Princeton Review, and Kaplan’s The Unofficial Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges, according to Grossman.
The 2004 Fiske Guide to Colleges placed Fairfield on its list of 15 small colleges and universities strong in business, stating that Fairfield, “combines solid academics, real-world opportunities in and outside the classroom, and an abundance of community service projects.”
In Kaplan’s The unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges, Fairfield was praised as giving a “well-rounded education with emphasis on service to the community – a winning combination for today’s world,” and says the “business programs, particularly accounting and finance, are excellent, as are biology, nursing, English and religious studies.”
Students agreed with this rating.
“I came to Fairfield to get a great education, and I feel that is exactly what I am getting here,” said Grant Pollworth, ’04. “I feel as if Fairfield is dedicated to academic excellence.”
The Princeton Review ranked Fairfield again amongst the best 351 colleges, as well as a write-up in a companion publication, The Best Northeastern Colleges, 135 Great Schools to Consider. This guide states that Fairfield’s five undergraduate divisions offer “an unusually wide range of academic options to its small student body, and like many Jesuit schools, it manages to do so at a price that nonaffiliated private schools rarely match.”
The Princeton Review ranked Fairfield as 10th for “Homogeneous student body”, a ranking of which schools have the least diverse social and ethnic types. There is also a ranking for interaction between different types of students, and Fairfield was ranked 11th for little race and class interaction. The third and highest ranking claimed Fairfield’s town-gown relations to be strained, representing a poor relationship between students and residents of the local community. Fairfield ranked 3rd this year, which is an improvement from last year’s 1st place rating.
Despite this negative rating, students are not shocked by the outcome.
“Relationships between college students and local residents are always tough to have,” said Dan Edmunds, ’07. “I remember hearing stories from my older brothers, so it doesn’t surprise me.”
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