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"Your college experience is (or was!) probably super fun and magical - that's what college is, after all," Cosmopolitan writes. "But you probably had no idea you're missing what the students at some picturesque schools get to see every day."

The then exhibits photos posted on social media of 18 colleges, with Florida State being the first, and Fairfield ranked at 16, right after Columbia University. The photograph features Bellarmine Hall decorated for Christmas. The other colleges listed in the article are Washington University of St. Louis, Pepperdine University, Swarthmore College, University of California, Los Angeles, Bucknell University, Loyola University of Chicago, Lewis and Clark College, Colorado University Boulder, James Madison University, University of California, Santa Barbara, Wellesley College, Georgetown University, University of Iowa, Cornell University - then Fairfield - followed by Vassar College, and Yale University.

The ranking from Cosmopolitan came fast on the heels of a report from a New York based financial technology company SmartAsset this week that ranked ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´Â as the top college and university in Connecticut when it came to the average starting salary of graduates.

Fairfield topped the charts in Connecticut with an average starting salary of $50,100, and a rating of 43.04 on the starting salary index (a figure that considers college tuition, living costs, scholarships and grants, and other measurements), outpacing Yale University, where the average graduate salary is $50,000, with a starting salary index of 42.83. Following Yale came the University of Connecticut, Quinnipiac University, Trinity College, Sacred Heart, Connecticut College, Western Connecticut State University, University of Hartford, and Wesleyan University.

"We really do have a beautiful campus, with a view of Long Island Sound and wonderful open spaces," said Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Jennifer Anderson. "We are situated on over 200 acres, with ponds, wild areas, a Zen garden, and buildings like Bellarmine Hall which are strikingly beautiful. We tell prospective students to come and have a look because we know when they combine our academic reputation with the campus, the town of Fairfield, and the beach, and realize they are just over an hour by train into New York, that they will want to come here. And they do."

Fairfield has enjoyed a number of other high rankings this year. Last month, U.S. News and World Report published their annual rankings and for the 25th consecutive year, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ has ranked in the top 5% for Masters degree granting regional universities in the Northeast according to a new poll done by U.S. News and World Report . Fairfield achieved the highest ranking of any regional college and university in Connecticut.  Fairfield also ranked 3 ^rd among regional institutions for Best Undergraduate Teaching, a strong testament to the caliber of education students receive. Fairfield’s overall graduate placement rate is 98%.

Additionally, out of nearly 1,400 colleges and universities in the country, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ has been ranked in the top 7% of all schools in the U.S. by USA Today , according to a list compiled by College Factual.  Stags lacrosse ranked in the top 3% of all Division I programs and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ also improved to #7 from #9 for best Roman Catholic colleges in the country.

College Factual is a data-driven resource dedicated to assisting prospective college students, and was recently featured on USA Today 's College web site. The schools were considered using College Factual’s quality ranking system, which is highly focused on outcomes such as graduation rates and average salaries of graduates.

In other rankings, in the 2015 Safewise report, the town of Fairfield was ranked 41 ^st in the "50 Safest College Towns in America"; TIME’s Money Magazine named ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ among the '10 Great Colleges That Don’t Care ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ Your SATs." Also described as ' ²Ñ´Ç²Ô±ð²â’s best-value schools where test scores are optional," the article emphasizes the excellence of a Fairfield education, giving Fairfield a "Value-added Grade A"; and Fairfield’s Master of Science in Accounting program was included in the Top 5 AACSB accredited programs in New England by The Accounting Path, an information website for students interested in accounting careers.

Media Contact: Teddy DeRosa, tderosa@fairfield.edu, 203-254-4000 ext. 2118

Posted On: 10-08-2015 03:10 PM

Volume: 48 Number: 25