ECU included in latest U.S. News rankings

East Carolina University moved into the top tier of colleges and universities in the latest national rankings by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

ECU tied for 194th, along with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and seven other universities.

A total of seven public and private universities in North Carolina were ranked in the top tier: ECU, UNC-Charlotte, Duke University, Wake Forest University, UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and UNC-Greensboro.

This year, U.S. News condensed four tiers into two. The schools that had been in tiers 2 and 3 are now included in tier 1.

While the U.S. News rankings are popular, ECU officials say they don’t paint a complete picture of a university’s performance.

“ECU continues to rely on the Voluntary System of Accountability to measure our quality,” said Dr. Steve Ballard, ECU chancellor, referring to a program begun in 2007 by public four-year universities to supply information on the undergraduate student experience and post it online. “The VSA actually addresses the learning behaviors of our students and what difference a college education makes.”

The 2012 edition of the Best Colleges guidebook is available at http://usnews.com and will be on newsstands Sept. 20.