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--> --> No Oregon schools atop latest college rankings PORTLAND (AP) - U.S. News & World Report issued its annual rankings of colleges and universities this week, and Oregon placed no colleges or universities in the top tier. The University of Oregon moved back into the second tier this year among national universities, after dropping into the third tier. This year, second-tier national universities start at No. 53 and third-tier schools start at No. 131. Salem's Willamette University, which last year tied with New York's Sarah Lawrence College for 50th among the nation's liberal arts colleges, dropped to second-tier status. Schools are ranked by a complicated formula that includes retention and graduation rates, classes with less than 20 or more than 50 students, SAT and ACT test scores, student to faculty ratios, and alumni giving rates and perceived reputation. "(The rankings are) big, big sellers, and they're media darlings, but when you look at college students and what they consider, rankings are pretty far down the list," said Michael Sexton, dean of admissions at Lewis & Clark College. Lewis & Clark is a private school in Southwest Portland that moved from third to second tier among national liberal arts colleges. This year Princeton was ranked the No. 1 university, followed by Harvard and Yale. Other top 10 institutions were California Institute of Technology, MIT, Stanford and University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Dartmouth, Columbia and University of Chicago. Tori Haring-Smith, dean of the liberal arts college at Willamette, said the school has the same response to the ratings as it did last year: "It's nice, but what we really focus on is the education." At Lewis & Clark College, some students didn't notice the fact that their college moved up in the ratings. "The prestige factor isn't something that's important to me," said Cassi Lydon, a 19-year-old biology sophomore from Nevada. "Getting the best education for me is what's important. The professors here are just awesome." Also in the second tier of liberal arts colleges was Reed College, which has refused to fill out the magazine's survey since 1995. Linfield College ranked No. 1 in the West among comprehensive colleges, which are a mix of liberal arts and such professional degree programs as nursing, business and education. In a new category called best master's universities - for regional schools that offer undergraduate and master's programs, but few doctoral programs - the University of Portland tied for the No. 7 spot in the West with Washington's Whitworth College. Pacific University came in at No. 16 and George Fox University tied for No. 17. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing