In its annual rankings, released Monday, the magazine rated the Leesburg, Fla. liberal arts school No. 31 among the 121 schools ranked in its Best Regional Colleges South category.
The college’s first placement in the rankings lands Beacon — America’s first accredited baccalaureate school dedicated to educating students primarily with learning disabilities and ADHD — in the category’s first quartile.
“Our inaugural ranking from the U.S. News & World Report confirms that Beacon College is an innovative leader in educating students,” said Dr. Shelly Chandler, Beacon College provost. “Coupled with our No. 1 rankings from Petersons and BestValueSchools.com for being the top school for those who learn differently, it is confirmed that our graduation and retention rates are impressive.”
The “Regional Colleges” category applies to schools that focus on undergraduate education but award fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts fields.
“This announcement quickly follows another year of record enrollment at Beacon College,” Chandler said. “With an increased recognition of our advancement and growing reputation, we are as motivated as ever to continue creating and improving our teaching and learning strategies.”
This recent accolade continues a trend of increased national recognition of Beacon College’s growing reputation for the college’s specialized mission and, of equal importance, its standing among all accredited colleges and universities.
Among the college’s most recent “Top 20” national and regional survey placements, three stand out: the respected Peterson Guide’s No. 1 national ranking in its designation of “20 Great Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities” (2019), Best Value Schools’ No. 1 ranking in its “The 20 Best Value Colleges for Learning Disabilities,” and Beacon College’s No. 4 national ranking in Best Choice Schools analytical survey of “The 20 Most Affordable Colleges with High Four-year Graduation Rates” — a 2019 study in which Beacon was among far better known and endowed colleges and universities.