A spokesman for the magazine confirmed the last line in the alphabetical list was omitted and promised to correct the oversight in the Sept. 6 issue, to be released Monday, Aug. 30. The college listings on the magazine's web site, and the hardbound college guide from which the magazine rankings were taken correctly include Wittenberg, the spokesman said. For years Wittenberg was rated the No. 1 regional liberal arts college in the Midwest. When the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching changed its classification a few years ago, Wittenberg and several of its Ohio peer institutions were moved into the national college category. National liberal arts colleges are defined as more selective, attracting students from across the nation.
Regional colleges are less selective, drawing students from a smaller area.
This fall, Wittenberg's first-year students alone come from 42 states and 33 nations. There are 3,595 U.S. colleges and universities, including 637 baccalaureate colleges, according to Carnegie. According to the U.S. News methodology, Wittenberg ranks among the top 122. Along with a number of other liberal arts college presidents around the country, Tipson has refused to participate in their reputational survey for the past several years. Twenty-five percent of the eventual U.S. News ranking is based entirely on whether presidents, deans, and admissions directors across the country choose, generally on the basis of very little actual knowledge, to rank an institution in the first, second, third, or fourth quartile.