Stetson University’s strong academic quality has earned it a ranking of third place among the South’s top regional universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 edition of “Best Colleges.” Stetson is also listed as one of the South’s “Great Schools, Great Prices,” based on academic quality and the average net cost after need-based financial aid.

Listed consistently as one of the South’s leading universities since the U.S. News survey of colleges and universities was first published in 1985, Stetson follows Rollins College in Florida and Elon University in North Carolina in the “Regional Universities” category. The category includes universities that provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s programs, but few, if any, doctoral programs. The 626 universities in the category are ranked by region – North, South,Midwest and West.

“Stetson takes great pride in the personalized and rigorous learning experience afforded to each and every student. Beyond that, Stetson instills civic values for life and challenges students to go beyond success – to significance in their communities, nation and world,” said Stetson President Wendy B. Libby. “This honor is evidence of Stetson’s academic excellence and integrity.

“At the same time, we encourage prospective students and their parents not to base their selection of a university on just one measure such as the U.S. News rankings,” Libby said. “We invite you to visit Stetson, check out our small class sizes, the credentials of our faculty, the vibrancy of our campus and the quality of our academic programs.”

Stetson offers a personalized education, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 11:1, in four colleges and schools – the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Business Administration, theCollege of Law and the School of Music. The first private university in Florida to be awarded a chapter of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honorary society, Stetson educates about 3,900 students at four locations across Central Florida – DeLand, Gulfport/St. Petersburg,Tampa and Celebration in the greater Orlando area.

This year, Stetson welcomed its largest incoming class ever with 875 first-year and transfer students. Numerous renovations and technology upgrades to classroom buildings, residence halls, parking areas and the campus landscape have been made over the past two years, and the pet residence hall was increased this fall to 50 rooms. The athletics program has been expanded to include football (first season fall 2013), women’s lacrosse (first season spring 2013), sand volleyball (first season spring 2012) and an extensive Club Sports program.

A new model for the Stetson Honors Program was launched this semester. As part of Stetson’s major emphasis on student success, first-year students started their First Year Seminar courses during orientation in August. First-year students will finish their First Year Seminar before Thanksgiving – allowing them to focus on their three other courses for finals.

U.S. News rankings are based on several key measures of quality including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. The rankings will be posted on www.usnews.com/colleges at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, and the publication is due to hit newsstands Sept. 20.