LR ranked nationally as “Best Value”


With the release of U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings, Lenoir-Rhyne University has once again been recognized as a top university in the South. The 2023-24 Best Colleges publication ranks Lenoir-Rhyne as follows:

Students walking on campus
  • Best Value Schools #21
  • Regional Universities South #40
  • Top Performers on Social Mobility #43

“Our faculty and staff are focused on delivering a transformative educational experience,” said Fred Whitt, Ed.D., university president. “We are pleased that U.S. News continues to recognize the value LR provides to students by making that experience affordable and accessible.”

To calculate the rankings, U.S. News focuses on academic quality and outcome measures, including graduation rates, retention rates, graduate indebtedness and social mobility. This year the publication changed its calculation methods, increasing emphasis on socioeconomic diversity among degree-earners as well as peer assessment. 

A top statistic for the university includes 97% of university graduates from the 2022 class are employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation. 

For more information about Lenoir-Rhyne University, its majors and degree programs, visit www.lr.edu.

News & Events

Loury Floyd

Loury Ollison Floyd, Ph.D., associate provost for faculty affairs, assessment and accreditation, received the 2026 NCACTE Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education Award on September 23.

View More
Cover of Emotionall Sober and Unimaginably Good and Megan DeMatteo

After a decade building a professional writing career, Megan DeMatteo returns to Lenoir-Rhyne with her first published book and a new goal: fiction.

View More