UOG climbed six spots on the “Top Performers on Social Mobility” list and now sits 40th in the nation among Western regional universities. UOG was also ranked 46th among the top public institutions in the West and 90th among all Western regional universities. Regional universities are those that offer a full range of undergraduate programs and provide master’s level degrees. 

“Being recognized by U.S. News & World Report for the second year in a row puts the University of Guam on the world stage among great company,” UOG President Thomas W. Krise said. “We are extremely proud of this achievement and even more proud to be equipping our region’s population with the knowledge and skills to succeed.”

The Best Colleges Rankings assesses 1,466 U.S. bachelor’s degree–granting institutions on 17 measures of academic quality. The main factors in the ranking methodology are graduation and retention rates, academic reputation among institutional peers, and students’ access to quality instructors. The University of Guam is particularly competitive in its first-year student retention with a rate of 75%. 

Top performer on social mobility

The “Top Performers on Social Mobility” list measures how well schools graduated students who received federal Pell grants. These students belong to households typically earning less than $50,000 per year, with most Pell grant households earning less than $20,000. UOG has a high percentage of Pell-eligible students at 61% — compared to an average of 48% among other universities that made the social mobility list — and graduates a high number of its Pell recipients within six years.  

  “Our university is doing important work to transform lives and advance our regional communities,” said Senior Vice President and Provost Anita Borja Enriquez. “And we’re on a trajectory to continue this great mission and look forward to climbing even higher on the ranks of reputable surveys like U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges Rankings.”

View the 2022 Best Colleges Rankings