Rockhurst University Is a Top 10 University in the Midwest

The Best Colleges 2025 list from U.S. News and World Report is out today, and in it, Rockhurst University has entered the top 10 on the list of best universities in the Midwest.

The University comes in at No. 7 on the Best Regional Universities in the Midwest list, part of a three-way tie for that spot. It’s the highest-ever placement for Rockhurst University on that list and represents the continuation of an upward trend, having moved up 19 spots on the Midwest regional universities list since the 2023 Best Colleges rankings.

While that ranking is impressive, it’s not the only category in which the University improved its standing. Rockhurst is also listed at No. 6 on the Most Innovative Universities in the Midwest Region, No. 29 on the list of Best Value Schools in the Midwest and improved one spot on the list of Top Performers on Social Mobility among Midwest regional universities.

“Needless to say, it’s a good day to be a Hawk,” said Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., Rockhurst University president. “This best-ever ranking represents years of hard work by our dedicated faculty to provide students a well-rounded educational experience, by our staff to ensure that students are well-supported throughout their journey, and of our students and graduates who use their Rockhurst education in so many ways to make the world a better place. We strive to always improve the value of a Rockhurst University degree, and today is a milestone in that goal.”

Several individual programs also received national recognition. Three of the specialty undergraduate programs in the College of Business and Technology — the marketing, management and analytics programs — all landed among the top 30 programs nationwide, at 26, 30 and 26, respectively. The analytics and management rankings both represent improvements over the previous year. The marketing program is newly ranked this year.

“We are over the moon,” said Myles Gartland, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business and Technology and associate vice president for strategy and innovation. “Innovation and quality instruction are hallmarks of what we are building at the College of Business and Technology. Having three programs recognized as among the nation’s best indicates that students of all stripes continue to benefit from the global perspective, creative problem-solving, networking opportunities and, of course, Jesuit core values that shape our students into purpose-driven leaders here in the Kansas City region and beyond.”

Rockhurst University’s nursing program continues to improve its standing nationally, as well, ranking among the top 30% of listed nurse preparation programs and having improved 81 spots on this year’s list compared to the previous year.

So how did we get here? U.S. News and World Report has a multifaceted methodology for determining rankings, taking into account factors from graduation and retention rates to the number of full-time faculty to peer assessment. Each factor is weighted, so some, like graduation rates, have a more profound effect on the final ranking. And it was in some of these categories considered more important that the University excelled. Rockhurst improved its peer assessment score by 30% over the previous year. Measures related to financial resources, graduation rate, retention rate and graduation rates among Pell grant eligible students also improved year over year.

“Those are the student-focused measures where we really want to be improving,” Cassady said. “These rankings are an opportunity to celebrate, but also motivation to continue moving forward and providing a one-of-a-kind Jesuit, Catholic education to all students.”