Washington Monthly Honors Valparaiso University for Contribution to Public Good

Valparaiso University is a top 10 master’s university in the nation, as announced today in Washington Monthly’s annual college rankings. The publication says it measures “what colleges do for their country” and recognizes institutions that provide an outstanding education while maintaining affordability.

Criteria include cutting-edge research and scholarship, recruiting and graduating low-income students and civic engagement, and the rankings include community service hours relative to school size. Valpo students annually perform more than 247,000 hours of community outreach and service learning, and the University regularly appears in the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction.

Social mobility and affordability are key components of the Washington Monthly rankings. Credit is given for enrolling low-income and first-generation students and providing upward economic mobility, and the rankings consider the number of Pell Grant recipients, graduation rates and financial assistance.

Valpo annually awards more than $100 million in financial assistance to all students from all sources, including scholarships, grants, loans and federal work study. The University’s student loan default rate of 3 percent is well below the national average of 13.7.