U.S. News and World Report awarded Nicholls State University as one of the top regional Universities in the south for the second consecutive year.
As a public University, Nicholls ranked 50th as a southern region University and third in the state.  
Laynie Barrilleaux, vice president for academic affairs, said the results of the ranking are based on the hard work and efforts that members of the University have put forward.  
“We’re proud that we can be recognized nationally,” Barrilleaux said.  “It shows we’re doing our job when you compare us to our peers.”  
Barrilleaux said that although the University does not strategize to get on the list, U.S. News and World Report uses some important criteria to evaluate each University.  
Most important of the criteria would be the increased retention rate of freshmen to 68 percent, which is an indicator of student satisfaction.  Graduation rates also increased, which can be a result of the selective admissions process at Nicholls.  
U.S. News and World Report also takes into consideration the student to faculty ratio in each classroom, which was 21:1 at Nicholls.  The report said the University had 39.8 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students.  
Although the student to faculty ratio did improve, the report lists other measures where Nicholls did not see any growth such as the loss of faculty.  Barrilleaux said factors that did not improve were a result of ongoing budget cuts.  
For example, the amount of faculty fell from 99 percent to 96 percent since the University was forced to lay off some faculty members and hire more adjunct professors.  
Barrilleaux said the University could not help certain factors but credits the faculty for their increased efforts.  
“We are trying to minimize the impact of budget cuts to students, which is a reflection of our recognition,” she said.
The report also takes into consider the amount of alumni donations the University receives, which Barrilleaux said the University appreciates during budget cuts.  
“We’re proud of our region because they are there to support us and because they hire our grads,” Barrilleaux said.  
There were 134 schools represented in in the southern region, and some of those universities did not receive a ranking for their efforts, including several universities from Louisiana.   
University President Stephen Hulbert said, “Being ranked two years in a row by a national publication is an honor I’m quite proud of.  It is a testament to our increased efforts to recruit more high-achieving students, retain them at Nicholls and better prepare them to succeed in their workplaces and communities.”