Rankings, Awards, and ServiceReturn on Education
Gustavus ranks among the elite liberals arts colleges in the country according to many leading national publications.
Our well-rounded students thrive on a campus that supports them both inside and outside the classroom and equips them for professional and personal success after graduation.
But don't take our word for it. Check out the rankings below!
Rankings Awards Justice and Service
Rankings
A Gustavus education prepares students for the real world. We provide opportunity and value to our students as they pursue excellence.
Niche Ranks Gustavus Among Top Liberal Arts Colleges
Gustavus comes in at 58th on Niche's list of the Best Liberal Arts Colleges in America for 2017. The website combines government data with over 100 million reviews and survey responses from students and parents to compile lists that rank Gustavus highly among schools with no application fee, best college food, and best colleges in America.
Gustavus Scores Highly in Inaugural Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education Rankings
Gustavus is the third-ranked private college in Minnesota and 144th among all colleges and universities in the United States in the first-ever Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, which place a special emphasis on student experience and outcomes.
MONEY Magazine Ranks Gustavus in Top 30 in Five Categories
The College ranks in the top 30 on the magazine’s lists of Most Affordable Private Colleges, Best Colleges for Merit Aid, Best Colleges that Add the Most Value, Best Colleges You Can Actually Get Into, and Best Liberal Arts Colleges. Gustavus is also listed as 74th overall out of 705 institutions on MONEY’s Best Colleges list.
Fifth for Salary in Minnesota, Government Says
According to the U.S. Department of Education, Gustavus ranks fifth among non-profit and public institutions in Minnesota in average salary after attending.
New York Times Highlights Colleges Doing the Most for Low-Income Students
The New York Times ranked Gustavus first in Minnesota and 33rd overall on its list of the “Top Colleges Doing the Most for Low-Income Students.” The criteria? Number of Pell grant students, their graduation rate, and the overall price tag for low- and middle-income students.
Kiplinger’s Best Value
A perennial Top-50 selection to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of the 300 colleges and universities who combine outstanding academics with affordable costs, Gustavus ranked 47th in the 2015 edition.
U.S. News and World Report Best Value
The U.S. News and World Report also ranks colleges by value, taking into account the net cost of attendance for students who receive an average level of need-based financial aid. Gustavus ranks 40th in the listing, which only includes colleges that are “above average” academically.
Forbes Top 25 Colleges Without Application Fees
At Gustavus, we don’t think you should have to pay to fill out our application. The experts at Forbes agree – they ranked Gustavus among the top 25 colleges without application fees in 2014.
Study Away Programs
We're committed to providing our students with a global perspective – over half of our graduating students study away at some point during their college experience. In fact, The Institute of International Education ranks Gustavus 24th among baccalaureate colleges in the number of students who study abroad.
Washington Monthly College Guide
Washington Monthly’s innovative rankings give marks to colleges based on social mobility, research, and service. Gustavus’s commitment to supporting low-income students, producing cutting-edge research and PhD candidates, and encouraging students to give back to the community resulted in the College being ranked 55th on the list of liberal arts colleges.
U.S. News and World Report Recognizes Operating Efficiency
The U.S. News and World Report took a close look at colleges that score highly on overall academic quality without spending heaps of money to do so. The result? Gustavus ranked fifth in the publication’s ranking of overall operating efficiency.
Awards
Excellence is first among the College's core values. These students and alumni are achieving it. You can too.
Gustavus Senior Wins Minnesota's Top Student Award for Psychology
Caroline David '16 took home the Minnesota Psychological Association's 2016 Donald G. Paterson Award. Presented annually to the top psychology student from one of Minnesota's colleges and universities, the award recognizes a senior student for high academic achievement, research experience, academic and research awards, and graduate school promise.
Goldwater Honorable Mention Combines Chemistry and Computer Science
After choosing Gustavus over Bowdoin, Brown, Northwestern, and Stanford, Ray Sajulga '17 is heading into his senior year as a Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention. Oh, and he's already published a research paper in a scholarly journal.
Three Gusties Secure Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Awards
2016 graduates Ben Dipple, Travis Sigafoos, and Joey Wiley will spend the 2016-2017 academic year teaching English abroad through the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program. Serving in Turkey, Mexico, and Malaysia, respectively, the Gusties will work with local students to expand intercultural understanding and serve as goodwill ambassadors for the United States abroad.
Mairs & Power Award Connects Students with Investment World
The Mairs & Power Award for Investment Study was created by Mark ’83 and Terri ’83 Henneman to support Gustavus students interested in pursuing a career in finance and investment. Yee Chang '15 was the inaugural winner of the $7,500 award, which also pairs winners with Mark as an alumni mentor, and covers the costs associated with the first exam in the Chartered Financial Analyst series.
National Science Foundation Recognizes Gustavus Graduates
Three young alumnae were selected as National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows from a pool of over 17,000 applicants from across the country. Another recent grad received an honorable mention for the award.
Swedish Connections Shine Through
The College maintains an active connections with its Swedish Heritage, a relationship that's embodied in students like Griffin Reed '16 and Karl Satterlund '19. Both Gusties won prestigious scholarships from the Swedish Council of America in 2016.
Top Five NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships
Over the past 15 years, we’re one of the top five colleges and universities in the country for the number of student-athletes who receive NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships. Gustavus NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners have gone on to study at some of the most prestigious graduate and professional schools in the country.
Campus Involvement and Leadership
Our well-rounded students are involved both inside and outside of the classroom, but Olivia Peterson '17 takes it one step further. As a member of the College's Campus Activities Board, she provides leadership and creates opportunities for other students to engage. She was rewarded for her work with two scholarships from the National Association for Campus Activities.
Study Away and Service at Home
Bryden Giving '16 knew that spending time abroad would strengthen his preparation for occupational therapy school. His committment to serving others paid off when he was awarded the Danish Institute for Study Abroad's Academic Excellence Award for Child Development and Diversity.
Gusties Lead U.S. in International Math Competition
A team of Gustavus students placed higher than any other liberal arts college in the nation when they earned a “meritorious winner” designation in the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling.
Highly Ranked for CoSIDA Academic All-America Selections
Our athletes thrive both on the field and in the classroom. In fact, we rank 11th all-time (and first in Minnesota) among NCAA DIII schools in the number of Academic All-America selections. Even better? Since 2000, Gustavus ranks 21st among all NCAA Division I, II, and III institutions.
Justice and Service
The College is committed to justice, service, and community at an institutional and individual level. Want to make a difference? You can do that here.
First Fair Trade College in Minnesota
Gustavus became the first Fair Trade College/University in Minnesota and only the 30th in the country in December 2015. The Fair Trade designation shows the College’s commitment to using responsibly sourced products and supporting students, faculty and staff as they work to create education programs and increase awareness of fair trade.
Phillips Scholars Serve Others
Since 1998, 13 Gustavus students have used awards from the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation to address needs within Minnesota communities. Andra Gulenchyn ’17 is the latest Gustie to serve as a Phillips Scholar.
Leading in Social Justice Theatre
I Am, We Are is widely recognized as the first student-run social justice theatre troupe in the nation. Each year, the group produces and performs powerful and engaging social justice theatre pieces that promote conversation and understanding. Its alumni have carried the experience of working in social justice theatre at Gustavus to every aspect of their lives as artists, educators, activists and leaders.
From Foster Care to Gustavus to Harvard Law School
Esther Mulder '08 took advantage of community resources as a youth. After graduating from Gustavus and serving through Teach for America, she's now a Harvard-educated lawyer who is giving back as a public defender in Hennepin County. 
A Champion for Justice in His Home State
After growing up as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian on an American Indian Reservation, Jace Riggin '16 is advocating for diversity and inclusion on LGBT issues in North Dakota.
Working to End Poverty and World Hunger
Gustavus alumnae Mikka McCracken '09 committed to service as a member of ELCA World Hunger. Read about how her Gustavus journey prepared her to tackle the global challenge.
Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement
One of the College’s core values is Community, a tenet that is lived out daily both on and off campus. But don’t take our word for it. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected Gustavus as one of 361 colleges (out of 4,634 eligible institutions!) to receive the organization’s Community Engagement Classification.