Best Regional Universities in the Midwest for 2018

College Consensus (https://www.collegeconsensus.com), a unique new college ratings website that aggregates publisher rankings and student reviews, has published their ranking of the Best Regional Universities in the Midwest for 2018 at https://www.collegeconsensus.com/rankings/best-regional-universities-midwest/.

To identify the Best Regional Universities – Midwest 2018, College Consensus combined the latest results from the most respected college rankings with thousands of real student reviews to produce a unique consensus score for each school. According to College Consensus founder Jeremy Alder, “Like Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic does for movies, College Consensus gathers the publisher rankings and student reviews from around the web and distills the results into simple, easy to understand scores so students can quickly and easily compare schools. It is the ranking of all rankings, so to speak.” Learn more about the College Consensus rankings methodology at https://www.collegeconsensus.com/about/.

To help prospective college students and their families evaluate the educational options open to them, College Consensus has identified the best regional universities in the Midwest, according to the combination of published rankings and student reviews. The top 10, out of nearly 100, are:

1. Butler University – Indianapolis, IN
2. Drake University – Des Moines, IA
3. Xavier  University – Cincinnati, OH
4. Bradley University – Peoria, IL
5. University of St. Francis – Joliet, IL
6. Creighton University – Omaha, NE
7. Truman State University – Kirksville, MO (tied)
7. MidAmerica Nazarene University – Olathe, KS (tied)
9. Valparaiso University Valparaiso, GA (tied)
9. Indiana Wesleyan University – Marion, IN (tied)

“Just like in entertainment and politics, in education it seems like the East Coast and the West Coast dominate everyone’s attention,” Managing Editor Carrie Sealey-Morris explains, “But the Midwest has some of the highest-ranked, most trusted, and most-loved universities in the nation.” The Midwest was populated by hard-working, community oriented people, and that’s the role that the Midwest’s regional universities take on as well: it is their job to “educate and train the region’s professionals and workers, from teachers to police officers to accountants.” In the College Consensus ranking, regional universities are those that have a closer reach, drawing their students primarily from the state or region. Regional universities also offer both undergraduate and graduate programs, but not usually doctorates. Most importantly, regional universities focus on the essential programs that keep society running. As Sealey-Morris puts it, “These are the universities that make the Midwest work.”

“Our goal with College Consensus is just as simple as our method,” according to Managing Editor Carrie Sealey-Morris: “We intend to make sure that prospective students know exactly what they’re getting into, by giving them all the information we can in a concise, digestible form.” The Best Regional Universities-Midwest ranking is intended to give a “clear and straightforward view of the Midwestern universities that have earned their reputation. That means impressing the experts, and giving students something to crow about.” “The numbers don’t lie,” Sealey-Morris asserts, “and by gathering all the numbers that count, College Consensus helps ensure that students know which of their options have the stamp of approval from experts and students.”

College Consensus is a new approach to college rankings. We combine the latest results from the most respected college ranking systems with thousands of real student review scores from around the web to produce an aggregate College Consensus rating for each school. Students will not find a more comprehensive ranking of the top colleges and universities anywhere. In addition to rankings, College Consensus also offers expert advice and guidance on all aspects of college life, from finding the perfect college, to getting accepted, paying for it, and finding your professional path after graduation.