Siena College was included in a national New York Times ranking of colleges based on their commitment to socioeconomic diversity. The ranking was released May 25 under the headline “Top Colleges Doing the Most for the American Dream.” It was accompanied by the column “An Assault on Colleges – and the American Dream.”
Siena appears 82nd on the list of 171 colleges across the country. It is one of only three Capital Region colleges on the Times’ College Access Index, and was ranked the highest of those.
The national index surveys colleges with a five-year graduation rate of at least 75 percent. According to the Times, the ranking is based on a combination of the number of lower-and middle-income students that a college enrolls and the price it charges these students.
“Notably, a college's endowment does not determine its commitment to economic diversity,” the piece read. “There are wealthy colleges and much less wealthy ones at both the top and bottom of the ranking.”
“We are pleased that this ranking reflects Siena’s strong commitment to socio-economic diversity in its student body,” Br. F. Edward Coughlin, O.F.M., Ph.D., Siena’s president. “This commitment reflects the College’s Franciscan heritage of welcoming students from all backgrounds and helping these young men and women achieve their dreams.”
