Washington Monthly magazine once again has listed Knox College among the top U.S. colleges—ranking it as No. 40 overall among 218 U.S. liberal arts colleges, and No. 2 among liberal arts colleges in Illinois. This is the ninth consecutive year that Knox has placed among the top 50. The ranking reflects the College’s “contribution to the public good” in terms of supporting and promoting social mobility, student research, and public service.

Knox was also named as one of the “Best Bang for the Buck” colleges in the magazine’s 2020 College Guide and Rankings, which was released in its September/October issue. Washington Monthly awards the “Best Bang for the Buck” designation to schools that “help non-wealthy students obtain marketable degrees at affordable prices.”

Washington Monthly says it evaluates colleges “on how well they serve the country as a whole—by recruiting and graduating non-wealthy students, encouraging student activism, and producing research and technologies that create high-paying jobs and address threats like climate change.”

In compiling the guide, Washington Monthly gives equal weight to each of three broad categories— community and national service, social mobility, and research—and takes into account several factors within each category. 

• Public service considers such factors as the proportion of alumni serving in the Peace Corps and institutional support for community service projects. It also considers voting engagement, including participation in All In, a nonpartisan initiative in which college campuses develop civic action plans to encourage voting and other forms of civic involvement. Knox ranked No. 33 in this category.
• Social mobility considers such factors as each institution’s eight-year graduation rate, the percentage of Pell Grant recipients, the percentage of first-generation students, affordability, and future earnings. Knox ranked No. 50 in this category.
• Research considers such factors as the proportion of alumni who go on to earn doctorates and the total amount of an institution’s research spending. Knox ranked No. 85 in this category.