Detroit Mercy was ranked among the top 200 national universities by U.S. News & World Report for a third year in a row, earning a No. 187 rank in the National Universities category of the publication’s “Best Colleges” 2022 edition. Twelve other Michigan universities earned a place in this year’s National University category. Detroit Mercy ranks fourth in the state and is the highest ranked private university in Michigan.
Detroit Mercy also received favorable recognition in the following categories:
- Best Value Schools, National Universities – No. 35
- Best Undergraduate Business Programs, Finance – No. 42
- Best Undergraduate Business Programs, Management – No. 27
- Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs – No. 148
- Best School for Veterans, National Universities – No. 121
- Top Performers on Social Mobility – No. 120
- A+ Schools for B Students
“University of Detroit Mercy is gratified to be recognized again as one of the top 200 institutions in the country by U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 ‘Best Colleges’ edition,” said President Antoine M. Garibaldi. “This national recognition confirms the exceptional quality and affordable Jesuit and Mercy education that our excellent faculty and staff provide to talented students who will soon join the ranks of more than 100,000 successful alumni around the world.”
When the pandemic began in March 2020, the higher education community across the world faced historic challenges. Detroit Mercy quickly convened a COVID-19 Task Force comprised of faculty and staff to help transition to virtual learning and focused on helping students stay on track with their studies. Additionally, the Detroit Mercy community collectively developed ways to make the University’s campuses safe as students returned this fall for in-person instruction.
That collective action has paid off immensely. The University welcomed 573 new freshmen this fall. Approximately 544 of this total will attend the McNichols Campus, which represents the largest McNichols class in the past 12 years. In total, the University anticipates about 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students for the fall. Last year, the University’s fall enrollment was 4,987.
The 2022 U.S. News & World Report rankings once again reaffirm the quality of Detroit Mercy’s education and the strength of the University’s Jesuit and Mercy traditions in helping to develop students into men and women of purpose and service. The new rankings also provide an opportunity to highlight several important initiatives that are currently underway at the University.
These initiatives include the expansive McNichols Campus Renovation Project, which will transform the northwest Detroit campus and provide an enhanced student experience. The renovated center will open in the summer of 2022 and will offer students a one-stop, state-of-the-art facility where they can complete financial aid, registration and other student services, eat, congregate and socialize. The new student union will be followed by the eventual demolition of the University’s Fisher Administration Center and Reno Hall. The multi-phase plan also includes new on-campus student apartments, greenspace on newly acquired land and a Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, among other projects.
In July, Detroit Mercy’s College of Engineering & Science was awarded $1.12-million from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to establish the Metro-Detroit Regional Vehicle Cybersecurity Institute, a regional-based, cybersecurity consortium. Led by Detroit Mercy, the consortium consists of multiple academic institutions in southeast Michigan and includes University of Arizona as a research partner. This consortium is designed to expand and enhance the cybersecurity engineering workforce through an applied curriculum developed in consultation with industry partners. The consortium also supports upskilling and reskilling for vehicle cybersecurity by prioritizing underrepresented populations, military personnel and veterans. Instruction began this fall.
In recent weeks, Detroit Mercy also implemented new academic programs that fit well with industry and student needs and interest. These programs include
- A Master of Science in Cybercrime offered through the Department of Criminal Justice that can be completed online.
- A new five-year accelerated Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration/Master of Health Services Administration.
- A new 15-credit graduate certificate in Applied Data Science available through the College of Engineering & Science in the Electrical & Computer Engineering & Computer Science department.
These milestones, coupled with the undergraduate tuition reset in 2017 that lowered tuition from $41,000 to $28,000, and the graduate tuition reset in 2019 for MBA, Master of Community Development and graduate programs in Architecture, Nursing and Engineering, make the institution’s nationally ranked, Jesuit and Mercy education affordable for all students.
Since 2020, Detroit Mercy continues to be ranked among the best institutions in the national universities category. Prior to 2020, Detroit Mercy was ranked in the top Midwest regional universities category by U.S. News & World Report for more than 18 consecutive years.
Background on U.S. News & World Report Rank Carnegie Classification
U.S. News collects data on more than 1,800 independent regionally accredited institutions. Before calculating the rankings, U.S. News groups colleges into categories based on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the most widely accepted classification system in U.S. higher education. Carnegie makes updates every few years and U.S. News follows these updates accordingly.
U.S. News & World Report released the 2022 rankings Sept. 13. For more, please visit https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges.