MMA is Top 10 in Northeast!!

Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) has been listed in the rankings of the nation’s top baccalaureate colleges for the northern region in the 2009 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report.

According to U.S. News & World Report, highlights of the rankings are published in the magazine’s Sept. 1-8 edition and were available for newsstand purchase as of Monday, Aug. 25. The results, along with a complete summary of the methodology used to rank each school, are also online at www.usnews.com/colleges. Maine Maritime Academy was ranked for the second consecutive year in the section titled, "Best Baccalaureate Colleges (By Region)".

MMA was placed as 10th overall in the listing of public and private colleges located in the north, a region defined in the publication as spanning from Maine to Maryland. Last year MMA was placed at 14th within the same regional category.

The college was also listed in a number of sub-categories for the region:

• 10th - Best Values: Baccalaureate Colleges (North)"
• 10th - Economic Diversity Among Top-Ranked Schools: Baccalaureate Colleges (North)"
• 7th - Average Freshmen Retention Rates: Baccalaureate Colleges (North).

In both years, MMA held the third ranked position within the regional list for "Top Public Baccalaureate Colleges", placing behind two federally run academies. MMA was the first publicly-funded, state college to appear on that list.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the category in which Maine Maritime Academy was evaluated, was defined as "…institutions [that] focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs - in the liberal arts, which account for fewer than half of the bachelor’s degrees, and in professional fields such as business, nursing, and education."

U.S. News & World Report reported that there were 319 baccalaureate colleges within the four regions that they considered nationwide.