For Immediate Release
GALLATIN, TN—Welch College has been ranked 10th among “Best Regional Colleges–South” in the 2027 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges, according to President Matt Pinson. The Regional Colleges−South category comprises 94 other colleges and universities in the South.
“It’s exciting to see Welch ranked 10th overall and 1st in social mobility in U.S. News Best Colleges,” President Pinson said. “This gives students, parents, and alumni confidence in our academic excellence and the competitiveness and recognition of Welch in the academic community.”
The Best Regional Colleges category includes institutions that focus on teaching undergraduate students. These schools offer a range of degree programs in the liberal arts and in professional fields.
“Colleges go up and down in these rankings each year,” Pinson said. “When we first entered the rankings sixteen years ago, we were ranked 52nd. Our ranking this year at 10th is exciting.”
“This ranking offers an external benchmark for our institution’s commitment to academic excellence,” Provost Matthew McAffee said. “The diligence of our faculty and staff is making the increases in Welch's excellence possible. They are deeply committed to our mission of educating Christian leaders for kingdom transformation.”
U.S. News rankings judge the relative quality of institutions based on widely accepted indicators of excellence in higher education: what peer institutions think of the institution, how many freshmen return their sophomore year, how many of them go on to graduate, student-faculty ratio, faculty quality, financial resources, how many economically challenged students go on to graduate, and more.
“To put our ranking in perspective,” Pinson said, “the other top-ten institutions in our category have an average enrollment more than 3 times higher than Welch’s and an average endowment more than 20 times higher than Welch’s. We’re striving to be good stewards of the resources God has given us.”
Out of the 95 institutions in the Best Regional Colleges−South category, Welch received especially high marks in three strategic areas, ranking as 1st in freshman-to-sophomore retention, 1st in social mobility (tied), and 2nd in graduation rate for students with financial need (Pell-eligible students).
For more information about Welch, email gotowelch@welch.edu or click here.