Lawrence Today magazine, Spring 2005


Data from the 11th annual edition of America’s Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities, released in November, ranked Appleton as #1 among the nation’s 320 metropolitan areas in terms of low crime rates.

The report used 2003 FBI statistics to determine the rankings, and metropolitan areas can be of any size, said Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press, the research firm that compiled the data.

Metro areas are rated for six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft.

Top 10 safest metropolitan areas:

1. Appleton
2. Fond du Lac
3. Bismarck, N.D.
4. State College, Pa.
5. Oshkosh-Neenah
6. Bangor, Maine
7. Harrisonburg, Va.
8. Binghamton, N.Y.
9. Wausau
10. La Crosse

U.S. News & World Report’s 18th annual “America’s Best Colleges” issue ranked Lawrence among the top quarter of the nation’s 217 leading national liberal arts colleges for the sixth consecutive year, assigning Lawrence a 53rd-place ranking in the “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” category.

For the third year in a row, Lawrence was included in U.S. News’ special category of “first-year experiences,” based on the strength of Freshman Studies, the college’s signature curricular program. Institutions are not numerically ranked in the special categories but listed alphabetically; hence, Lawrence joined Duke, Princeton, and Stanford Universities, among others, who were recognized for first-year programs.

Using enrollment figures from the past academic year, the magazine ranked Lawrence seventh among all liberal arts colleges in percentage of international students enrolled, with 11 percent of the student body comprised of students from other countries.