CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Aug. 24, 2009 – U.S. News Best Colleges announced last week that Southeast Missouri State University is again on its list of the best master's degree-granting institutions in the Midwest.

Southeast is Missouri's only comprehensive public regional university listed as a “best college,” further evidence that Southeast is Missouri’s most academically competitive comprehensive regional university. According to the rankings, Southeast is among the top tier of master's degree granting institutions in the Midwest. Of the 71 Midwest schools listed, 52 are private institutions. Southeast is one of only 19 public universities on the Midwest Best Colleges list.

The U.S. News rankings gather data from participating colleges for 15 indicators of academic excellence. Each factor is assigned a weight that reflects nonbiased judgment about how much a measure matters. The indicators rely on quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable ones of academic quality, and of what matters in education. Colleges are ranked against their peers, based on their composite weighted score. Of the 1,400 institutions participating in the 2009 survey, Southeast Missouri State University was once again listed in the first tier of Midwest universities.