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With 24 percent of alumni donating to the university and a strong academic reputation, UW-Eau Claire was ranked third-best public regional university in the Midwest by U.S. News and World Report, Chancellor Donald Mash said.
The magazine compared factors such as academic reputation, class size, graduation and retention rates, student selectivity, faculty-to-student ratio and alumni giving to rank colleges by region.
Universities nationwide were split into four geographical categories -Midwest, South, North, and West, Mash said. Eau Claire placed in the top 25 percent of public and private schools, going against 505 other schools, he said.
`What particularly stood out to me about Eau Claire was the reputation,” freshman Tonya Behnke said. “I also knew that overall, Wisconsin schools have always had good education systems. It doesn’t surprise me that Eau Claire was ranked so high.”
Eau Claire was ranked lower than Truman State University of Missouri, and Northern Iowa University, Mash said.
A major factor that placed Eau Claire lower than Truman State and Northern Iowa was the faculty to student ratio. Eau Claire had a 20:1 ratio, while Truman State had a 15:1, and Northern Iowa had 16:1.
Eau Claire also was very close in the retention rates, having 78 percent return after their freshmen year. Truman State and Northern Iowa had 85 percent, and 82 percent, respectively. Eau Claire, for the sixth year in a row, has managed to keep its standing, competing against 260 other public Midwest schools.
“If we could hire more faculty, we could improve our student to faculty ratio and reduce our class sizes, making us better in those categories,” Mash said.
In the last legislature session, more funds were given to hire additional faculty, and the funds will enable us to hire more teachers in computer science, software engineering and management information systems, he said.