By Julia Kramer · News Editor
Grove City College earned its highest ranking in the U.S. News Report for Best Colleges of 2027 for its commitment to teaching, despite fluctuating rankings in other categories.
The Report asked college presidents, provosts and admission deans from across 1,500 different colleges which campuses had “faculty with a remarkably strong commitment to undergraduate teaching” and tallied the total of nominations each institution received.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Peter Frank found these results represented his observations.
“The men and women who serve this college are unparalleled in their dedication as teachers and scholars,” Frank said. “This is what makes Grove City such a special institution; the faculty believe that providing our students with excellent courses and academic mentoring is their most vital professional mission.”
While “teaching” is the newest category in the U.S. News survey, Grove City College received a ranking significantly higher in this category than any other, including engineering.
According to Grove City College’s most recent press release, the college still maintains a leadership position in the undergraduate space for engineering programs for its 123rd placement; however, stats are down from 2017 results, which previously placed the college 52nd.
Assistant Dean for the School of Science, Engineering and Mathematics and professor of mechanical engineering Eric Bardy found these results intriguing but not representative of his experience.
“Our programs, in my opinion, have improved over the years,” Bardy said. Commenting on the college’s smaller status, Bardy hypothesized that the lower results could be more a publicity issue rather than anything else.
“I think sometimes what we do at Grove City College is not always well known outside of the people that know the school,” Bardy said.
Being a smaller, private campus may have contributed to the college’s ability to provide high-quality teaching. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 14:1, compared to public colleges with ratios closer to 20:1, according to SAGE Scholars, Grove City College professors have more time to invest in each student.
For senior computer science and mechanical engineering major Henry Tan, the college’s “smallness” was one of the things that persuaded him to enroll. Originally from Australia, Tan knew he wanted to attend a private U.S. college with an ABET-certified engineering program unlike what he knew others endured in larger colleges.
“In my experience of talking to seniors and things like that, (the classes) are very flooded,” Tan said. “So, choosing a smaller school with actual availability of professors is really important.”
In an engineering context, where concepts build on one another throughout one’s entire college career, Tan saw Grove City College’s “availability of professors” as a unique part of the college’s engineering program, something not available elsewhere.
“If you don’t get something and you’re in a bigger school or you have a larger cohort, you’re just going to get left behind,” Tan said.
Although Tan explained that a significant portion of his fellow engineering majors have switched majors or quit entirely over his three and a half years at the college, he maintained that office hours and the college’s student-to-teacher ratio help those who take advantage of them.
Bardy, who has found his teaching experience at the college uniquely compelling, said office hours are the “minimum way” that he has witnessed faculty express their deep investment in students.
“It’s not the paycheck,” Bardy said, concerning what keeps him and others teaching at the college. “It’s the totality of what this place represents.”
“I’ve visited other schools. I have even interviewed with a few places, and I’ve always decided to stay,” he said. “I think there’s a common theme about how we teach, and how we connect with our students.”
Coming from more than 20 years of teaching at Grove City College, Bardy described his philosophy on what good instruction looks like, and how the college allows professors to invest in and mentor students more than just intellectually.
“We’re here because we want you to know Jesus more deeply, to understand more clearly who you are as the Bible describes you and to grow in knowledge, confidence and maturity in your chosen field,” Bardy said.
Like its ratings in recent years, Grove City College ranked in the top 10 for “best overall” college for 2027 and has continued to receive national attention for the quality of its education and faculty.
