Detroit Mercy ranks among top U.S. Universities in Wall Street Journal’s/THE 2022 Times rankings

Detroit Mercy has once again ranked among the top universities nationwide in The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) college rankings that were released Sept. 21. 

The WSJ/THE ranked Detroit Mercy No. 202 out of 786 schools in the United States for 2022. This is the fifth year in a row that the University has ranked among the top third of all U.S. universities in The WSJ/THE college rankings. 

This ranking system has earned critical acclaim over the years for its pioneering approach to prioritizing student success and learning in its analyses of colleges and universities. The rankings provide students and institutions with access to a comprehensive list of more than 1,000 institutions evaluated on their educational impact and the lifetime benefit to students.

“We are honored to be ranked among the top universities in the The Wall Street Journal/THE College rankings for 2022,” said Antoine M. Garibaldi, president of Detroit Mercy. “Earning this recognition as one of the top universities in the U.S. once again reaffirms the dedication and commitment of our faculty and staff in providing students an excellent, values-centered education,” he added. 

The 2022 rankings are comprised of 15 individual performance indicators designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families. These indicators include data sources such as the U.S. government’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), U.S. Dept. of Education’s Federal Student Aid and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), among others.

The WSJ/THE 2022 rankings follows the U.S. News & World Report 2022 “Best Colleges” edition, which ranked the University among the top 200 in the national universities category Sept. 13. Detroit Mercy earned a No. 187 rank, which is the third year in a row that Detroit Mercy has ranked high in this category. Only three other Michigan universities earned a place in this year’s group.   

In addition to placing high in the overall national universities classification, Detroit Mercy received favorable recognition by U.S. News & World Report in the following special categories: 

• Best Value Schools, National Universities – No. 35    
• Best Undergraduate Business Programs, Finance – No. 42 
• Best Undergraduate Business Programs, Management – No. 27 
• Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs – No. 148 
• Best School for Veterans, National Universities – No. 121   
• Top Performers on Social Mobility – No. 120  
• A+ Schools for B Students  

The Wall Street Journal/THE 2022 rankings provide an additional confirmation of the educational strength and quality of Detroit Mercy’s Jesuit and Mercy traditions in helping to develop students into people of purpose. In addition, these rankings give the institution an opportunity to highlight several important initiatives that are currently underway at the University.

The first is the McNichols Campus Renovation Project, which will transform the northwest Detroit campus and provide an enhanced student experience. The renovated center will open in the summer of 2022 and will offer students a one-stop, state-of-the-art facility where they can complete financial aid, registration and other student services, eat, congregate and socialize.

The new student union will be followed by the eventual demolition of the University’s Fisher Administration Center and Reno Hall. The multi-phase plan also includes new on-campus student apartments, greenspace on newly acquired land and a Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, among other projects.

In July, Detroit Mercy’s College of Engineering & Science received $1.12-million from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to establish the Metro-Detroit Regional Vehicle Cybersecurity Institute, a regional-based, cybersecurity consortium. Led by Detroit Mercy, the consortium consists of multiple academic institutions in southeast Michigan and includes University of Arizona as a research partner. This consortium will expand and enhance the cybersecurity engineering workforce through an applied curriculum developed in consultation with industry partners. 

In recent months, Detroit Mercy also implemented new academic programs that fit well with industry and student needs and interest. These programs include:   

• A Master of Science in Cybercrime offered through the Department of Criminal Justice that can be completed online.  
• A new five-year accelerated Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration/Master of Health Services Administration.   
• A new 15-credit graduate certificate in Applied Data Science available through the College of Engineering & Science in the Electrical & Computer Engineering & Computer Science department.  

Finally, at the end of August, the University welcomed 573 new freshmen. Of this total, about 544 will attend the McNichols Campus, which represents the largest McNichols class in the past 12 years. Overall, Detroit Mercy experienced a 10% increase in enrolled students compared to the average of the previous five years of classes.