U.S News: Middlebury Stays at #5

It’s rankings season with both Forbes and Princeton Review getting in on early action, but the big-daddy has arrived: U.S News and Reports 2009 rankings are out and Middlebury maintained its 5th spot in Liberal Arts. We are ranked between Wellesley and Bowdoin, but behind Amherst and Williams which tied for first-place.

Middlebury has been ranked number five for the past two years. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing unless you’re applying to Middlebury — good luck Class of 2013!

And in better news, the Sierra Club has ranked Middlebury number one in the country of colleges that “get it.” They write,

Another college with Middlebury’s record might have taken it easy on green initiatives this year. After all, Midd’s outdoorsy intellectuals had already earned recognition for such ambitious projects as recycling materials from a demolished building. But the school pressed on, giving its study-abroad program a shot of green last fall: A partnership with a renewable energy company makes it easy for students to offset carbon dioxide emissions associated with travel. More important, the Panthers now learn how to leave a lighter footprint on their excursions, and study-abroad students can win $500 grants to research environmental solutions like geothermal power in their adopted countries.