Wake Forest ranks 28th among national universities

The annual guide, which announced its new rankings today, gives Wake Forest high marks for its small classes, low student-faculty ratio, high graduation and retention rates, financial resources and alumni giving.

The 2000 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” ranks Wake Forest 28th among 228 national universities–147 public and 81 private. The guide describes national universities as offering “a full range of majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees.”

“Wake Forest’s consistent ranking as one of America’s best universities recognizes our success in providing students with extraordinary educational opportunities,” said Sandra C. Boyette, vice president for university advancement. “We are pleased to see that U.S. News and many other guides and rankings continue to recognize Wake Forest’s commitment to undergraduate education.”

Wake Forest opens its fall semester on Aug. 25 with a yearlong celebration of science and technology, new and renovated buildings, and a new university-owned center in Vienna where students live and study under the direction of a Wake Forest professor. Wake Forest owns residential study centers in London and Venice, too.

The semester also marks a new point in Wake Forest’s technology initiative, launched in 1996 as part of the Wake Forest Undergraduate Plan, a blueprint to enhance undergraduate education. For the first time, all four classes of undergraduates have laptop computers provided by the university. Wake Forest has gradually worked toward this point since fall 1996, distributing IBM ThinkPads to each new freshman class. Freshmen picked up their new computers Aug. 18, the first day of orientation.

“The Undergraduate Plan underscores Wake Forest’s dedication to making the undergraduate experience more personal and more intellectually rigorous,” Boyette added. In addition to the technology initiative, the plan is distinguished by its focus on small classes, close student-faculty interaction and additional financial aid.