Political magazine lauds Evergreen as a college that is 'doing good for the country.'

A new method of ranking colleges and universities is making headlines, and The Evergreen State College is one of the top 50 schools in the country on a unique list that is gaining popularity.

Unlike other widely debated college ranking guides, like U.S. News and World Report, the Washington Monthly's assessment of the nation's colleges analyzes a broader area than just what the institutions are doing for individuals - it focuses on what colleges are doing for the nation.

According to The Washington Monthly, a political magazine based in Washington, D.C., their new guide is “for all Americans who are concerned about our institutions of higher learning. Are our colleges making good use of our tax dollars? Are they producing graduates who can keep our nation competitive in a changing world? Are they, in short, doing well by doing good?”

The magazine ranks Evergreen 47th among the thousands of the nation’s college and universities.

“A commitment to public service and the public good is one of Evergreen’s core values –the Washington Monthly has clearly recognized that,” said Les Purce, Evergreen’s president.

Washington Monthly editors examined indicators of how much a school is benefiting the country through “how well they perform as an engine of social mobility, ideally helping the poor to get rich rather than the very rich to get very, very rich, how well the institutions do in fostering scientific and humanistic research, and how well they promote an ethic of service to country.”