According to Forbes magazine, Claflin University is the highest ranked historically black college and university in the entire nation.

“We are proud to be listed among America’s best colleges in Forbes’ inaugural rankings,” Claflin President Dr. Henry N. Tisdale said Tuesday. “This ranking further validates the fact that Claflin’s student-focused guiding principles are definitely steering our institution and her students toward greater academic excellence.”

Overall, Claflin ranked 141st among the 569 undergraduate institutions included in Forbes’ rankings. The list featured the top 15 percent of America’s colleges and universities.

In South Carolina, Claflin finished third overall behind Wofford (#62) and Erskine College (#95).

Other South Carolina colleges and universities including in the rankings are: Converse College (#147), Furman University (#154), The Citadel (#172), Presbyterian College (#190), University of South Carolina (#344), College of Charleston (#421), Clemson University (#425) and South Carolina State University (#485).

Nationally, Princeton University in Trenton Falls, N.J., was rated the top school.

The Forbes rankings focus on students’ quality of education based on evaluations of professors and courses and the number of alumni listed among notable people in the publication, Who’s Who in America. Other factors included student debt, graduation rate and the number of students and faculty who have won nationally competitive awards like Fulbright grants.

The rankings were compiled in conjunction with Dr. Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economist, and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington-based think tank.

“Small liberal arts schools shine in our rankings, probably due to both the quality of their faculty and the personal attention they can provide,” said the editors of the Forbes’ special report. “These rankings reflect, in a very real way, the quality and cost of an undergraduate education at a wide range of American colleges and universities.”

Prestigious national rankings are not new for Claflin. whose enrollment has grown to 1,800.

The university has been listed in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of America’s Best Colleges for 10 consecutive years (1998-2008).

In 2008, U.S. News ranked Claflin #10 among the Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the South; Third Highest Graduation Rate in the South; and #7 among the best black colleges in the nation. Consumers Digest ranks Claflin as the third best value among the nation’s Top Private Colleges and Universities. The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education rank Claflin #2 for Retention Rate Among Very Selective HBCUs and Graduation Rate, respectively.

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