Marquette Advances in U.S. News & World Report College Rankings Service-learning program cited as one of the nation's best Released: Aug. 19, 2005 Marquette University advanced to 85th among the top 100 national universities in the 2006 edition of America's Best Colleges, released today by U.S. News & World Report. Marquette was ranked among 248 U.S. universities that offer undergraduate majors as well as master's and doctoral degrees, the premier category of institutions ranked by the publication. Marquette was ranked at 90th a year ago.   "Marquette's standing in the U.S. News rankings is recognition of our growing selectivity and of the strides we have made to provide a truly transformational education to students,” says Provost Madeline Wake, Marquette 's chief academic officer. “Our Jesuit, Catholic mission of educating students to make a difference in our world through service to others has been enhanced in recent years through nearly 450 endowed scholarships that provide the resources for those in need. We also received more than $20 million in external funding for the first time this year to assist our faculty in the pursuit of knowledge.” Marquette was also ranked 87th among the best undergraduate business programs and 102nd among best undergraduate engineering programs. U.S. News credited Marquette for having an outstanding example of service learning, an academic program in which students perform community service work related to their courses. Combining service work with classroom experiences enriches students' learning, personal growth and sense of civic responsibility. At the same time, this work builds community and enhances the efforts of collaborating agencies. Approximately 900 students from 55-65 university courses are placed at 100 to 125 community agencies each semester. Marquette also offers a program in South Africa that integrates rigorous academic studies with service projects throughout Cape Town and the surrounding area. In addition to learning and working with government, religious, business, civic and community leaders, students work directly with community-based and grassroots organizations on activities as varied as reconciliation and legal intervention, mediation, health care, water quality, affordable housing, and the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS.   According to the U.S. News citation, Marquette's Service Learning Program was recognized through soliciting names of service learning programs from university and college presidents, chief academic officers and deans of admission who could nominate up to 10 institutions in a given area such as service learning. Those listed most often made the list for institutions recognized for that particular facet of their efforts.   The move in the U.S. News & World Report ranking is another success for Marquette this week. On Tuesday, the university announced that its seven-year Magis: The Campaign for Marquette was the most successful comprehensive campaign in university history. Through more than 50,000 individual donors, Marquette raised a record $357 million, some $107 million more than the initial goal of $250 million. As a result of the campaign, Marquette increased its number of endowed scholarships by 50 percent, started new academic programs across campus, and opened three new buildings including the School of Dentistry, which has been recognized as one of the finest dental education facilities in the world; the John P. Raynor, S.J., Library, a technologically advanced resource for students; and the state-of-the-art Al McGuire Center, which is the home court for women's basketball and volleyball, and houses practice facilities for men's basketball, sports medicine facilities, and an academic center for student athletes. Interested media should contact Anne Broeker in the Office of Marketing and Communication at Marquette University at (414)288-0286. Office of Public Affairs Contacts Christopher Stolarski Media Relations Specialist Phone: (414) 288-1988 Send e-mail