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U.S. News & World Report has named Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) one of the top baccalaureate colleges in the South, according to rankings published in the 2009 edition of America’s Best Colleges. This is the first time since 2001 that B-CU has appeared in America’s Best Colleges
numerical rankings.
In the category “Best Baccalaureate Colleges, Southern Region,” Bethune-Cookman University ranks in the top tier of schools – those numerically ranked from 1 to 48. This category rates institutions that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of programs in both liberal arts
and professional fields. B-CU is also ranked in the top tier of America’s Historically Black Colleges & Universities.
In keeping with its commitment to academic excellence, B-CU has one of the highest percentages of full-time faculty (94%) of any institution ranked
in the Best Baccalaureate College, Southern Region category. B-CU also boasts a strong faculty: student ratio of 17:1 and has a majority of classes
(51%) with fewer than 20 students. The institution’s 71% freshman retention rate points to the success of its Freshman College initiative which
provides coordinated support and advisement to first-year students.
“I am very proud of all members of the B-CU family who have worked so hard to make this institution one of the best in the South,” commented
President Trudie Kibbe Reed. “Recognition by U.S. News & World Report is one of many indications that B-CU is making great strides in sustaining our founder’s legacy of faith, scholarship and service.”
Most recently, B-CU has received national recognition for its strong science programs. This month, the institution was awarded a $223,000 grant
from the National Science Foundation for the purchase of robotics equipment to outfit its Robotics and Embedded Systems Research Laboratory.
And, B-CU has been named a member of a consortium of universities working in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)
Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC). As one of the nine participating institutions, B-CU students and faculty will participate in
national environmental science research efforts, and the institution will receive $380,000 in grant funding
In addition, B-CU has also received more than $ 4 million in federal funding to assist the University in its mission of providing higher education
opportunities to minority students. More than $1 million will assist B-CU
in implementing a Comprehensive Development Plan designed to
improve the institution’s capacity to prepare students for careers in natural sciences, mathematics, computer science/information technology or
engineering. The remaining $3 million will be used to support a number
of programs including enhancement of teacher preparation/certification
programs in order to qualify more candidates to teach in a public elementary or secondary schools in the state of Florida.
Founded in 1904 by Mary McLeod Bethune, Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) today sustains her legacy of faith, scholarship and service
through its relationship with the United Methodist Church and its commitment to academic excellence and civic engagement. B-CU offers
baccalaureate degrees in 37 majors through six academic schools – Arts
& Humanities; Business; Education; Nursing; Science, Engineering and
Mathematics; and Social Sciences – and maintains intercollegiate athletic
programs and instrumental and choral groups that have achieved
national recognition. Under the direction of President Trudie Kibbe
Reed, the school achieved University status in 2007with the launch of a
master’s degree program in transformative leadership. Located in Daytona Beach, B-CU is one of three private historically black colleges in the
state of Florida. The institution boasts a diverse and international faculty and student body of more than 3,400.
The Christian Reader September 2008
Bethune-Cookman University Ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s
2009 edition of America’s Best Colleges.