McNeese Earns National Recognition for 14th Consecutive Year 

For the 14th consecutive year, McNeese State University has received national recognition as one of the best regional universities in the South by U.S. News and World Report. 

In the just released 2025 edition of “Best Colleges,” McNeese is also ranked No. 38 among the Top Public Schools in the southern region – one of six Louisiana institutions to make the Top 50. 

McNeese’s online master’s degree in criminal justice is also ranked among the Top 93 Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice programs. 

Now in its 40th year, the rankings evaluate nearly 1,500 national colleges and universities on up to 17 measures of academic quality that offer detailed information of the institutions and data on factors such as graduation rates, retention rates, social mobility, affordability, faculty and financial resources, and post-graduate earnings. 

“First and foremost, we are committed to providing quality, labor-market focused degree programs for our students,” said Dr. Wade Rousse, McNeese president. “It’s a huge accomplishment to maintain this ranking for 14 years. It corroborates what we already know that our faculty and staff are dedicated to teaching and mentoring our students to ensure their success.” 

McNeese continues to be nationally recognized for faculty and student accomplishments, including high passage rates on national licensure exams, acceptance into medical and professional schools and career return on investment. 

This fall, McNeese has had its first enrollment increase in more than 10 years, showing resilience in the face of a world-wide pandemic and multiple hurricanes, a flood and winter storm event that devastated Southwest Louisiana. 

The McNeese campus is undergoing significant changes to enrich the academic experience for its students: a new Student Union that will house the cafeteria, meeting space and Student Government Association offices; a new location for the McNeese Bookstore; the innovative LNG Center of Excellence that will establish McNeese as a leader in the liquified natural gas industry and be used for training, research and education for students and faculty; a Center for Learning and Student Success; and a Student Health and Counseling Center. 

U.S. News publishes the Best Colleges rankings each year to provide prospective students and their families with the comparative merits of the undergraduate programs at America’s colleges and universities.