Westminster College Ranks Third in Nation for Most Focused Undergraduate Science Programs
Westminster College ranks third in the United States among all American colleges and universities for most focused in the fields of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, according to recently released national rankings.
The data-driven national education firm, College Factual, which is in partnership with USA Today, named Westminster 3rd out of all 536 college and university programs ranked nationwide for 2016. Rice University in Houston, TX and Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa ranked first and second, respectively.
“We are extremely proud that College Factual has placed some of our science programs in the most select group in the nation,” says Westminster President Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande. “The number of successful graduates we have in these fields is a testament to what strong preparation our students receive.”
College Factual evaluates all college and universities together and calculates its “Most Focused” rankings by considering fields of study, the number of majors in that field, the percentage of the student body taking those majors, and the national rankings of majors in that field. The formula is based on the premise that colleges who put more emphasis on certain majors will more likely do a better job of teaching them and provide more resources for those majors.
Westminster science students have the opportunity for independent and collaborative research at the college’s state-of-the art Coulter Science Center, and they receive a great deal of personalized instruction from the faculty. Students are offered opportunities to study and research at other institutions abroad as well as participate in off-campus research trips in locations such as Belize, Kenya, and Peru.
Due to the intensive and individualized approach to these majors that Westminster students experience, they often have an edge in gaining positions in laboratories, chemical industries and pharmaceutical firms or advancing into prestigious graduate or medical school programs.
Data to determine College Factual rankings comes from a number of sources, both public and private. The majority of the information comes from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the United States Department of Education.
