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Today, B��Ԫ announced it achieved recognition in three categories by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024 Best Colleges rankings issue. For the third consecutive year, Mercy ranked as a top performer for Social Mobility, cementing its strong position in this category, and secured rankings for Best Regional University and Best Undergraduate Nursing Program.

“These rankings reaffirm Mercy’s leadership in providing high-quality, accessible education that leads to successful outcomes,” said Susan L. Parish, Ph.D., M.S.W., president of B��Ԫ. “B��Ԫ remains committed to forging pathways so that all students, regardless of their background and circumstance, are equipped with the tools to thrive.”

Mercy ranked in the top 17% of schools recognized as Top Performers for Social Mobility, which measures how well schools graduated students who received federal Pell Grants. Mercy has earned a spot in the Social Mobility category since its addition to the Best College Rankings in 2019. This year, Mercy ranked higher than in previous years, placing 28 out of 166, compared to 34 last year. This distinction shows Mercy’s commitment to ensure educational access and college completion for non-traditional students, including those who may be demographically underrepresented in higher education, demonstrate high financial need, or identify as first-generation college students.

B��Ԫ, the region’s largest private minority-serving institution and Hispanic-Serving Institution, has long been committed to college access and has one of the lowest tuition rates of private, four-year colleges in the region. Most students qualify for financial assistance. This year, nearly 75% of new freshmen are eligible for Federal Pell Grants providing them additional assistance to an already low tuition rate.

“Mercy’s 2024 ranking in the Social Mobility category demonstrates our commitment to helping students achieve their personal and professional goals through education,” said Adam Castro, vice president for enrollment management at B��Ԫ. “Mercy students, often the first in their families to go to college, see that the institution works diligently in advancing prospects for them, their families and their communities.”  

For the fourth consecutive year, Mercy also placed in the Best Regional Universities North category, ranking in the top 75% for the second time. In this category, regional universities are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence. This improvement in the overall ranking for regional universities reflects Mercy’s commitment to robust academic initiatives, improved student outcomes, and increased brand awareness on a regional and national level.

For the third year in a row, Mercy ranked among the nation’s Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs. The category is an indicator of schools with accredited four-year and degree-completion programs that conferred a required number of degrees in the survey year. This ranking confirms Mercy’s growth in nursing, its commitment to educating the next generation of health care professionals and meeting the needs of today’s workforce. On July 1, 2023, Mercy launched a School of Nursing that will enable the institution to further enhance its nursing programs, better serve its students, and help meet the growing need for nurses in the Tri-State area and across the nation.

Now in its 39th year, the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings evaluated nearly 1,500 U.S. bachelor's degree-granting institutions on 19 measures of academic quality as defined by education experts. Rankings are based on peer reviews and other data collected during the spring and summer of 2023 from the U.S. Department of Education and other sources.