Sep 02, 2008 - Claremont, Calif. - U.S.News & World Report's guidebook "America's Best Colleges 2009" was made available on newsstands around the nation Aug. 26, and Harvey Mudd College (HMC) was recognized in many areas, including being ranked 14th among the nation's liberal arts colleges, second among undergraduate engineering programs and third by high school counselors who assessed liberal arts colleges offering the best education.

HMC was ranked number one among liberal arts colleges for selectivity and listed among colleges and universities with "Programs to Look For" for its senior capstone and undergraduate research and creative projects; among those recognized as "Great Schools, Great Prices"; among institutions whose students graduate with the least debt; for a high percentage of students living in college housing (99 percent); and for the economic diversity of its student body. 

HMC was among four colleges and universities in the West whose science programs were selected to be part of a series of profiles by U.S. News staff writer Eddie Ramírez and photographer Kevin Horan. The pair spent several days in spring 2008 recording their impressions of the HMC campus, its people and programs in creating an online profile of the college. Ramírez also narrated a video about HMC and the other science programs profiled on the website.

Also among the college rankings released in August, Payscale, Inc., published a study of salaries of college graduates that was covered by the Wall St. Journal and Business Week. The study revealed that HMC graduates ranked third behind MIT and Caltech in starting median salaries ($71,800) and mid-career median salaries ($122,000).

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