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Florida Southern in top ten
of U.S. News college rankings

LAKELAND, Fla. (Oct. 24, 2003) - Florida Southern College placed in the top ten in the U.S. News and World Report 2004 college rankings recently published in its annual issue U.S. News America's Best Colleges. Among comprehensive colleges - bachelor's in the southern region, FSC ranked 8th. In the same category, the college ranked 7th in best value. 

The colleges are rated in the areas of graduation and retention rank, faculty resources rank, student/faculty ratio and percentage of full-time faculty, among other criteria. The category features institutions that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs in the liberal arts, which account for fewer than half of their bachelor's degrees, and in professional fields such as business, nursing, and education. 

U.S. News determines its best value ranking using a formula that relates a school's academic quality, as indicated by its U.S. News ranking, to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the value. U.S. News considered only schools ranked in the top half of their categories, since it believes the most significant values are among colleges that are above average academically (from www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings).

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. 

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