U.S. News & World Report ranks Augustana top 5 regional university in best value for second year

Sept. 24, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Augustana University.

Augustana has been ranked a Top 5 Regional University in the Midwest in Best Value for the second year in a row by U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Colleges Rankings — viewed as the gold standard in college rankings lists. 

Augustana works hard to ensure an affordable education for its students as 100 percent of full-time undergraduates receive scholarships and/or grants. The value of an Augustana education is evident as 98 percent of its recent graduates achieved a positive career outcome, and many of these graduates chose to continue their education, with 30 percent enrolled in graduate school or professional programs. Upon graduation, recent alumni employed full time reported earning a median income of more than $55,000.

“We are thrilled to once again be ranked a Top 5 Regional University in the Midwest in Best Value by U.S. News & World Report,” said Adam Heinitz, Augustana associate vice president of enrollment management and a 1999 Augustana graduate. “This recognition comes at a time when we are celebrating historic enrollment and the outstanding success of our recent graduates, who are excelling in their careers and graduate studies. The university is well known for providing its students with an affordable, top-tier education, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to thrive as they pursue their bold dreams, and this ranking serves as further affirmation of our commitment.”

In addition, U.S. News & World Report ranked Augustana No. 13 in Best Regional Universities in the Midwest. AU is listed in other Best Regional Universities Midwest categories, including No. 8 in Best Undergraduate Teaching and No. 4 in Most Innovative — up seven spots from last year’s ranking in the same category.

“AU’s placement in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings is a testament to the university’s unwavering commitment to academic excellence, innovation and student success,” said Augustana president Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. “It reflects the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff, as well as the incredible support of our alumni, parents and friends. This achievement is a shared honor for our entire university community.”

U.S. News & World Report identifies a regional university as one that offers a broad scope of undergraduate degrees and some master’s degree programs with few doctoral programs — ranking them in four geographical groups: North, South, Midwest and West.

In its 40th edition, U.S. News ranked schools according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence. Nearly 1,500 U.S. institutions that grant four-year bachelor’s degrees were surveyed on more than a dozen measures reflecting academic quality and graduate outcomes, as well as considerations that vary from person to person such as campus culture, strength in specific majors and financial aid offered.

To place each school in its ranking, U.S. News maps its categories to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education’s Basic Classification system, which is the accepted standard in U.S. higher education. The U.S. Department of Education and many higher education associations use the Carnegie system to organize or label their data.

Like U.S. News, Augustana hopes these rankings serve as “a tool for helping future undergraduates understand the academic quality of four-year baccalaureate programs throughout the United States.”

How Augustana ranks in other publications

• The Princeton Review recently ranked AU as one of its 2025 Best Regional Colleges.
• Niche ranked Augustana among the 2025 Best Colleges in South Dakota — giving the university an A-minus or above in athletics, diversity, dorms and student life. Niche also ranked AU in the Top 20 for Christian Colleges in America and the No. 2 College in South Dakota for academics, most diverse, education, student-athletes, small colleges, college location and biology.
• AU is a 2024 Leading Colleges Award Recipient in Retention and designated a Military Friendly School. 
• Augustana has been once again named a Hidden Gem College in the U.S. and Hidden Gem College in the Plains Region, as well as a Division II Hidden Gem College and Hidden Gem College for Nursing for 2025 by College Raptor. College Raptor also ranked AU No. 1 overall in South Dakota, as well as No. 1 in the state for outcomes, graduation rates and international student concentration.
• WalletHub ranked Augustana as one of its 2024 Best Universities — the top university in South Dakota and No. 127 out of 770 universities nationwide, as well as No. 23 in the Midwest.

For more rankings related to Augustana University, visit augie.edu/rankings.