Dordt Ranked #1 in Student Engagement by Wall Street Journal

For the fifth year in a row, Dordt University has been ranked the number one university in the nation for student engagement, according to The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education’s College Rankings 2021.

“At the core of our undergraduate education is the shaping of students—heart, soul, mind, and strength—and that happens through relationships between students, faculty, and staff,” says Dr. Erik Hoekstra, president at Dordt. “To have The Wall Street Journal see how essential this aspect of education really is, and to rank Dordt University as number one in this measure again for the fifth year in a row, is encouraging to us. But, to see what this level of student engagement actually accomplishes in the lives of our students as they serve as Christ’s hands and feet within the world—that’s worth more than any ranking.”

According to The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education rankings, decades of research has found that the best way to truly understand teaching quality at an institution—how well it manages to inform, inspire, and challenge students—is through capturing what is known as “student engagement."

The engagement category is 20% of the overall College Rankings 2021. To determine if the college effectively engages with its students, the category takes into account the number of accredited programs offered at Dordt, the level of student engagement, the opportunities for professors and students to interact, and whether students would recommend Dordt to a friend.

Within the College Rankings 2021, the engagement category is one of four pillars that emphasize key areas in teaching excellence: resources, environment, outputs, and engagement. The rankings examined data from a variety of sources, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the U.S. government, the College Scorecard, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the Elsevier bibliometric dataset. This year’s rankings examined 797 institutions nationally.

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.