News Release

U.S. News & World Report honors LC State as one of top public colleges in the West

LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College was named one of the top four public regional colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the 2021 best colleges, which were released this week.

The ranking continues a tradition of strong rankings for LC State by U.S. News & World Report. LC State has been ranked as the No. 1 public college in the West twice and is regularly ranked among the top 10 public college and top 25 public and private colleges in the West. The categories have changed during the past decade, but LC State’s strong academic quality has it as only one of four to earn 2021 accolades for public colleges in the West.

U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on data collected from each college in as many as 15 areas of academic excellence. These areas include graduation and retention rates (22.5 percent of the college’s overall score) undergraduate academic reputation (22.5 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (12.5 percent), financial resources (10 percent), graduate rate performance (7.5 percent) and alumni giving rate (5 percent).

LC State has the lowest tuition among Idaho’s four-year public institutions and has an enrollment of around 3,700 students. LC State was one of more than 1,800 colleges and universities to submit data to be included in rankings, which started in 1983 to provide college-bound students information on schools and to make comparisons.

The other three colleges joining LC State among the best regional colleges in the West are California State University-Maritime Academy, Oregon Tech, and the University of Hawaii-West Oahu.