Presbyterian College has been ranked among the nation’s top 30 liberal arts colleges according to the Washington Monthly College Guide.

Using criteria such as social mobility, research, and service, the national magazine illustrates its goal of providing a new type of college ranking by measuring “not just what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country.”

“In our eyes, America’s best colleges are those that work hardest to help economically disadvantaged students earn the credentials that the job market demands,” wrote the magazine’s editors. “They’re the institutions that contribute new scientific discoveries and highly trained Ph.D.s. They’re the colleges that emphasize the obligations students have to serve their communities and the nation at large.”

PC president Dr. John Griffith several years ago joined a group of college presidents who have raised questions about the methodologies used in rankings, particularly those that require reputational surveys or “peer rankings.”

“A growing number of higher education institutions are trying to engage in a healthy dialogue about methodologies in hopes of providing students and their parents good information on which to base their college decisions,” he said. “In Washington Monthly’s case, an entirely new set of criteria has been posed that match our mission of educating future servant-leaders for a global community.”

Ranked 26^th of 253 liberal arts colleges in the United States, PC ranked particularly high in the service criteria. The college ranked 17^th overall in the percentage (25 percent) of federal work-study funds spent on service. PC’s Reserve Officer Training Program ranked third overall. PC also ranked in the top 100 in social mobility and research expenditures.