Rhodes Named One of the Nation’s Most Innovative Colleges

students walking out of a Gothic stone building

U.S. News & World Report has named Rhodes College one of the nation’s most innovative national liberal arts colleges in its 2020 Best Colleges rankings.  Rhodes was also recognized as a “Best Value College” and on the list of national liberal arts colleges with the “Best Undergraduate Teaching Degrees.”  

Rhodes has a variety of innovative experiential learning programs such as the Lynne & Henry Turley Memphis Center and the Mike Curb Institute for Music, which provide students with opportunities to pair their top-tier liberal arts education and interdisciplinary research with real-world experience on campus and in the community. Rhodes also has a number of fellowships that match students with partners in the medical, research, and nonprofit sectors to explore professional and academic projects while equipping them for successful careers and graduate study.

“Our college’s location in the heart of Memphis and our pioneering faculty members provide unique opportunities for our students to pursue the cutting-edge experiences that are responsible for the transformative Rhodes education,” says President Marjorie Hass. “By supplementing a rigorous liberal arts and sciences education with hands-on work with the community, we provide an edge to our graduates as they enter the professional world and pursue meaningful change.”

Rhodes is ranked 53rd among the 216 national liberal arts colleges ranked this year, placing the college in the top tier of colleges that emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of degrees in liberal arts fields of study.

Rhodes College U.S. News & World Report Rankings:

Best National Liberal Arts Colleges
#53

Most Innovative National Liberal Arts Colleges  
#35

 Best Value Colleges (National Liberal Arts Colleges)
#84

 Best Undergraduate Teaching Degrees (National Liberal Arts Colleges)
#35

Last week the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education college rankings were released.  Rhodes ranked 2nd in Tennessee, 29th in the South region, and 134 nationally. Unlike the US News & World Report rankings, this ranking does not break colleges and universities into separate categories.

Rhodes is a nationally ranked residential college committed to the liberal arts and sciences. Our highest priorities are intellectual engagement, service to others, commitment to diversity and inclusion, and honor among ourselves. Our students live and learn on one of the country’s most beautiful campuses, located in the heart of Memphis, an economic, medical, and cultural center, making Rhodes one of a handful of prominent liberal arts colleges in a major metropolitan area.