Emerson ranks high in national surveys

Emerson College has placed highly in numerous national and regional surveys of colleges that aim to help prospective students and their parents in making their college decisions.

Forbes included Emerson College as one of “America’s Top Colleges,” a list of its picks for the top 20 percent of all undergraduate institutions in the nation (which totals roughly 650 schools).

In the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings for 2014, Emerson moved up to 11th in the category of “Regional Universities-North.” 

“It is wonderful to have a school such as ours, with its distinctive focus on arts and communication, to be recognized as one of the top colleges in the country,” said MJ Knoll-Finn, Vice President for Enrollment Management. “We have worked hard to ensure that the education students receive at Emerson College is the best it can be. It is wonderful to see our hard work recognized through this continued rise in our ranking.”

In August 2013, Affordable Colleges Online included Emerson in its ranking of 51 Massachusetts colleges with “best lifetime return on investment,” which is described as producing students who have “strong career potential when they graduate.”

Emerson is also included in this year’s Fiske Guide to Colleges, a report on more than 300 of the best and most interesting colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, compiled by a former New York Times education reporter. The guide’s entry on Emerson highlights Emerson faculty, who are often industry professionals, and its extracurricular offerings.

Emerson is listed annually on various best colleges surveys.

In July 2014, the College’s Department of Visual and Media Arts was named one of the world’s 25 best film schools by the Hollywood Reporter. Selections were made based on consultations with industry insiders, executives, filmmakers, and film school graduates. Emerson ranked 9th among the schools on the list, which included the American Film Institute, Columbia University, and the University of Southern California.

In August 2014, The Princeton Review ranked Emerson in the top 10 nationally for most LGBT-friendly college (#3); best college radio station for WERS-FM (#4); and best theater program (#5). Emerson has held in top 10 positions in these categories for the past few years.

A website aimed at female college students named Emerson College the most social media–savvy school in the country. HerCampus.com said Emerson’s ranking was based on the College’s social media courses and the wide embrace and understanding of social media on campus. 

Emerson’s arts organization, ArtsEmerson, received a regional honor in Boston Magazine’s 2012 annual Best of Boston issue. It was recognized as providing the “Best Theater” in the city of Boston.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance placed Emerson on its list of Best College Value of 2015.