FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATHENS, WV April 9, 2002

Concord Ranked One of America’s Best Colleges

U.S. News and World Report prepares an annual publication that is a major guide used by high school seniors and their parents nationwide in the process of selecting a college or university.

The publication groups colleges and universities that are similar in mission, size, and course offerings and then ranks them into tiers according to a variety of evaluation criteria, including academic reputation, freshman retention rate, student/faculty ratio, and average graduation rate. Tier one is the highest ranking.

Concord College was ranked in the Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor’s institutions, which focuses on undergraduate education and offers a wide range of degree programs in the liberal arts and in professional fields such as business, nursing, and education. There are 322 comprehensive colleges in the nation, ranked within four regions: Midwest, North, South, and West.

Concord is ranked in tier two, Southern Region, and was number one among similar colleges in the academic reputation category. Schools that ranked in the first tier are private institutions with tuitions and fees that are much higher than Concord’s.

"That is the tops in public comprehensive colleges," said Concord College President Jerry Beasley. "Academic reputation scores are based on evaluations by your peers. U.S. News sends the surveys to three individuals at each institution: the president, academic officer, and the director of admissions. This ranking focuses attention on our faculty who strive to facilitate student learning; we are very proud of this accolade!"

Academic reputation is an essential part of the evaluation and Concord excelled in this category, scoring a 3.2 on a scale of 1.0 to 5.0. Concord topped all others in the state to become the number one college in this category.

For information on attending Concord call 1-888-384-5249 or 1-304-384-5248 or e-mail admissions@concord.edu.

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Concord College Notes: Jessica Taylor wrote this press release. Her hometown is Beckley, West Virginia. She is majoring in English/writing with a minor in journalism. Her anticipated graduation date is May 2003.