OBU Earns Top Rankings from U.S. News and World Report for 31st Consecutive Year

September 13, 2022

U.S. News and World Report has ranked OBU as the top Oklahoma university on its list of Best Regional Universities in the West. OBU also received the top Oklahoma ranking on the Best Value Schools list for Regional Universities in the West.

OBU has been ranked on the list of Best Regional Universities in the West for 31 consecutive years and has been ranked the top Oklahoma institution for 29 years.

OBU was the highest-ranked university from the state of Oklahoma on the Best Regional Universities in the West, with 12 other schools from the state ranking below OBU. “Best Regional” rankings are calculated through a number of factors, including graduation and retention rates, social mobility, undergraduate academic reputation, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources for students, graduate indebtedness and multiple other measures of academic quality.

OBU was also the highest ranked school in the state and one of only two Oklahoma institutions to make the list of Best Value Schools for Regional Universities in the West. To select institutions for this list, U.S. News and World Report factors the academic quality and cost for each school after accounting for total expenses and financial aid. Four ranking indicators were used, including academic quality, the percentage of full-time undergraduates receiving need-based scholarships or grants, the average discount from the school’s total sticker price for full-time undergraduates, and the percentage of full-time undergraduates receiving need-based aid who also received a grant or scholarship. This ranking underscores the value of an OBU education, in tandem with the overall academic quality of the institution.

The University was the only Oklahoma school to make the list of Best Colleges for Veterans for Regional Universities of the West. This ranking reflects which schools are affordable for veterans and active-duty service members based on the benefits available to them.

OBU was also ranked on the list for Social Mobility Among Regional Universities of the West. This ranking measures the extent to which schools enroll and graduate students who have received federal Pell Grants. This is computed based on two factors, both the six-year graduation rate of bachelor’s degree-seeking new entrants awarded Pell Grants as well as how close the six-year graduation rate of Pell Grant receiving students is to students who do not receive Pell Grants.

OBU President Dr. Heath A. Thomas is grateful for the recognition these rankings bring to the transformational, world-class education found on Bison Hill and for the value an OBU education offers to graduates.

“We are grateful to once again be recognized by U.S. News and World Report as not only an institution of the highest academic quality, but also one of tremendous value for our students,” Thomas said. “We are grateful for our faculty, who care about their students in a meaningful, personal way while leading them to passionately seek knowledge through the lens of biblical truth in their disciplines. We are likewise grateful for the legacy of Christian liberal arts education which began on Bison Hill more than 112 years ago. As our students learn to think critically and form a distinctively Christian worldview, they grow and mature into the future shapers who will one day transform our world as they live all of life, all for Jesus.”