US News & World Report's Best Colleges Guide 2009: Alfred University ranks #2 in the North as a "Great School at a Great Price" in one of the most commonly quoted publications that claims to assess quality in higher education - the annual college ranking issue of US News & World Report.

Every year since the US News began ranking colleges and universities, Alfred University has ranked among the top 20 master's level institutions in the northern region

According to the publication, "The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. We considered only schools ranked in the top half of their categories, since we believe that the most significant values are among colleges that are above average academically."

AU's internationally-known ceramics M.F.A. program is consistently ranked number one by U.S. News in its ranking of graduate schools.

Of its methodology in ranking schools, US News & World Report says it weighs the following:

• assessment by administrators at peer institutions
• retention of students
• faculty resources
• student selectivity
• financial resources
• alumni giving
• graduation rate performance," the difference between the proportion of students expected to graduate and the proportion who actually do