Academic Reputation
2026-27 Academic Catalog
Classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an Arts and Sciences institution, Augustana has had a chapter of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society since 1950. Ten percent of U.S. colleges and universities have Phi Beta Kappa chapters.
Admission is selective. Students accepted to Augustana typically rank in the top quarter of their high school classes and score well above national norms on the ACT and SAT. For the Class of 2029, the ACT average composite score was 24.
Twenty-two percent of Augustana's 2025 graduates are in graduate school, with an additional 23 percent planning to apply next year. Ninety-three percent of the 2025 graduates who applied to graduate or professional school were accepted into their first or second choice. Eighty-eight percent of 2025 graduates were employed, continuing their education, in a service position or pursuing other opportunities within six months of graduation.
More than 90 percent of the full-time faculty hold doctorates or the terminal degrees in their fields. All classes are taught by faculty; Augustana does not have graduate teaching assistants. The 12-to-1 student-faculty ratio allows students to work closely with professors and advisors while pursuing their academic careers. The largest majors for 2026 graduates were accounting, biology, business administration, communication studies and psychology (alphabetical order).
Augustana College was tied at No. 96 in U.S. News and World Report's 2026 ranking of best national liberal arts colleges.
U.S. News and World Report also ranked Augustana as:
• No. 34 for Most Innovative Schools
• No. 73 in Best Value Schools
Other rankings:
Academic All-Americans: No. 14 nationally for number of Academic All-Americans, in all divisions of the NCAA; No. 1 in our conference and in the tri-state region of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin
Money magazine 2025: Ranked one of the Best Colleges in America
Forbes 2025: Recognized as one of 25 private colleges with generous financial aid
Dream School: Named one of 75 "New Dream Schools" in the nation by New York Times bestselling author and higher education journalist Jeffrey Selingo
Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020 and 2019
Open Doors 2025: No. 14 among U.S. baccalaureate colleges for number of international students
Niche 2025: No. 3 on the list of best liberal arts colleges in Illinois
Princeton Review 2026: Best in the Midwest 2026
Study Abroad Aide 2024: Top 35% in the world for best value university for international students
College Factual 2024: No. 92 out of 1,076 Best Education Schools
Augustana’s curriculum and faculty are consistently recognized through grants for innovative projects by major foundations, including the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, National Institutes of Health, John Deere Foundation, National Science Foundation, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation, the Teagle Foundation and the Wallenberg Foundations of Sweden.
Augustana actively promotes, underwrites and administers research projects involving both professors and students. Research work has included major projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society's Petroleum Research Fund, Argonne National Laboratories and the American Heart Association.
For more information and data about Augustana’s academic community and reputation, see the Office of Institutional Research.