Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release					August 19, 1999

Lawrence University Cited Among Nation's Best by U.S. News & World Report

 
     APPLETON, WIS. -- For the second time in the past three years, Lawrence
University has been named one of the nation's 40 best national liberal arts
colleges by U.S. News & World Report.  And for the sixth consecutive year,
Lawrence is cited as one of the country's top 20 best educational values.
     In the magazine's 13th annual "America's Best Colleges" report to be
released Friday (8/20), Lawrence is ranked 40th in the guide's "best
national liberal arts colleges" category among 162 institutions. Swarthmore
College of Pennsylvania earned the magazine's top ranking this year, moving
up from second a year ago.
     Lawrence was the only Wisconsin college ranked among the nation's
premier  national liberal arts schools.  In its popular annual guide, U.S.
News & World Report divides 1,600 of the nation's public and private
four-year schools into national -- those recognized as among the most
prestigious and academically selective in the entire country -- and regional
geographic groups and ranks those institutions based on a variety of
weighted criteria, including student selectivity, financial resources,
graduation rates, faculty resources and alumni satisfaction, among others. 
     "It's gratifying to know that U.S. News and World Report confirms once
again what we've known ourselves for a long time, namely that Lawrence
provides one of the country's very finest educations at an affordable
price," said President Richard Warch.  "The best barometer, however, of the
true value of a Lawrence education is ultimately found in the success and
life-long benefits enjoyed by our students and alumni."
     In the magazine's "Great Schools at Great Prices" category, Lawrence is
ranked 18th among national liberal arts colleges, marking the sixth year in
a row Lawrence has been listed among U.S. News' top 20 best educational
values.  The great school/great price category is designed to provide a
realistic measure of where students can get the best eduation for the money
and the rankings correlate the cost of attending an institution to its
quality.  Lawrence was the only Wisconsin institution among the 32 schools
ranked in the category.
     Lawrence's educational value was affirmed with its inclusion in a
separate ranking released last week by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine
that listed its choices of the country's "Top 100 Values in Private
Colleges."  In publishing its first review of the nation's private schools,
Kiplinger's selected its top 100 educational values from a pool of all
private colleges and universities in the country, including major
institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford, all of which
joined Lawrence on the top 100 list.     
     During the 1998-99 academic year, Lawrence distributed more than $18
million of financial aid to 85% of its students.  Lawrence students received
financial aid awards worth an average of more than $18,100 last year.