Hobart and William Smith Colleges rose 13 places to rank 60th among national liberal arts colleges in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, the Geneva institution announced Tuesday. The colleges also ranked 55th on the publication's Best Value Schools list.
HWS placed No. 57 among private colleges nationwide. The announcement did not provide the institutions' prior positions on the Best Value Schools or private-college lists.
U.S. News weighs measures of academic quality and student outcomes, including graduation and retention rates, performance relative to expected graduation rates, peer assessments, financial resources, student-faculty ratios, borrower debt and graduate outcomes. The announcement did not provide individual scores for those measures or explain which ones drove the 13-place change.
HWS said it ranked 19th nationally on U.S. News' “Earnings by Major” measure, which uses College Scorecard data on typical earnings by field of study for employed graduates. Separately, the colleges cited a Payscale.com figure of $141,800 for alumni median midcareer salary. The announcement did not specify the period or sample behind that salary figure.
The rankings arrive as HWS reports its largest applicant pool on record. First-year enrollment increased by more than 20% this fall, according to the colleges, bringing total enrollment above 2,000 students. The announcement did not give an exact applicant count or first-year class size.
HWS pointed to ongoing investments as context for the ranking. Its fundraising campaign has raised more than $360 million toward a $400 million goal for financial aid, academic programs, facilities and student experience.
One project is the 40,000-square-foot Fish Center for the Sciences, now under construction on the campus Quad and scheduled to open in fall 2027. The colleges also cited the Melly Institute for Business, Innovation and Leadership, established through a $70 million gift from Thomas Melly and Judith Melly, as a source of new academic opportunities.
The institution cited separate rankings from The Wall Street Journal and The Princeton Review for student experience, community service, faculty access, student government and town-gown relations. Those lists use their own criteria and are distinct from the U.S. News ranking announced Tuesday.
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