Valley City State seeing results after high magazine ranking

Tyler Barnes is among the early freshman who has shown up for football practice at Valley City State. He's part of the largest freshman class the college has seen in over 10-years.

Tyler Barnes: "I think that its cool that it's the top school. It’s like a little school no one knows about."

This year the college is getting a little boost from a national magazine, ranking it better than most.

Steve Shirley: "The survey is certainly not the end all be all, but it’s certainly a very nice strong indicator that certainly is a re-affirmation that the things that you're doing leads to a strong education.”

U.S. News ranked 18 schools in the Midwest. Number 2 on the list, VCSU, ranked as one of the Top Public Regional Colleges in the nation.

Myles Brooks: "I guess it’s so people-friendly, student-friendly that I can see why it’s up there in rankings as far as that goes."

Freshman ACT scores, Alumni support and student to faculty ratio. All are factors when U.S. News ranks the schools. Valley City State is no stranger to the top college list of US News, but this is only the second year in a row they have been number two.

Steve Shirley: "We think that a year ago after the ranking had come out has really played an important role indirectly impacting those enrollments this fall."

Its lead to a record setting year for VCSU and Shirley says it's a record they break again next year. U-S News ranks 14-hundred colleges around the nation in different categories. Mayville State ranked number five in the same category as VCSU.

Tags: reporter stories, dylan wohlenhaus, higher education, valley city, vcsu, news, barnes