In the newly released 2010 edition of the magazine’s widely read annual college guide, Xavier was ranked 27th among the publication’s list of the “Best Universities — Master’s” from the southern region of the United States. That places the university in the “top tier” of the 120 institutions included in that category and marks an improvement over last year’s ranking of 29th.

Xavier is also ranked 5th among the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) behind Spelman College, Howard University, Morehouse College and Fisk University.

The U.S. News guide divides all colleges and universities into four categories — national, master’s, comprehensive and liberal arts colleges — grouping them further into designated geographical regions. Xavier is included among the master’s schools because it offers a full range of undergraduate, some master’s-level programs and a single doctoral program. Ac­cording to the guide there are some 572 master’s schools in the U.S. The southern region includes 12 states.   

According to the magazine, the ratings are based on academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

Xavier also figures prominently in a special Guide article on HBCU’s, “The Challenge for Black Colleges.” The specific reference to XU in the article reads:

“Others, such as Xavier Univ­ersity of Louisiana, are recruiting based on their track records of turning disadvantaged kids into stars. Xavier boasts that it sends more African Americans to medical school than any other college in the nation. It manages to do this while charging about $25,000 for everything — tui­tion, fees, room, board, books, transportation, and so on. While that may sound high, many big public universities — in Cali­fornia, for example — have similar sticker prices for in-state students. Also, more than half of all Xavier students receive grants averaging more than $5,000, bringing their net cost below $20,000.”

This article was originally published in the September 14, 2009 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper