We continued our decades-long streak with U.S. News “Best Colleges” in 2022. The news magazine ranks us 6th among Southern publics, top 18 of regional schools public and private, top 7 for best undergraduate teaching,
and once again a Best College for Vets. The Princeton Review has counted us among the best southeast colleges for 15+ years, based on academic excellence and student testimonials. Our educational
quality, affordability and alumni success prompted Money Magazine to name us a best college for value.
Minority student achievement remains strong. A 2017 Education Trust named Winthrop #2 in the nation for high rates of graduation success for Black students. For diversity in the workplace,
Winthrop is ranked 1st among state institutions for reaching goals related to the hiring of women and minorities.
Teachers of the Year are made here, as graduates of our Richard W. Riley College of Education, Sport,
and Human Sciences regularly earn that designation at the school, district and state
levels. Future educators have opportunities early in their majors for hands-on field
work and classroom experiences, thanks to our school-university partnership. We are one of only a few institutions in the U.S. and the only institution in South
Carolina with all arts programs accredited. Our business college’s AACSB-accreditation is held by less than 5% of programs worldwide.
Nearly 800 undergraduate students engaged in undergraduate research last year. More than 250 of these students, representing at least 30 departments
and programs from all five colleges, presented or performed their scholarly and creative
work on campus. All students at Winthrop can choose to do undergraduate research with
a professor and present their research locally, regionally and/or nationally.
Washington Monthly most recently included us on a list of best colleges for student voting, but we’ve also been recognized before for our voter friendly campus and impressive turnout. Additionally, the West Forum trains our state’s next generation of political and civic leaders and sponsors programs,
events and activities that promote civic engagement.
The Princeton Review included us in its green colleges guide for our impressive green-related affiliations and accreditations, plus our sustainability
efforts. We have a robust recycling and sustainability education program. Our energy
and water conservation, solid waste reduction and air quality measures helped us become
a City of Rock Hill Certified Green Workplace.
Through the SC INBRE initiative, Winthrop has provided hundreds of student-centered research experiences since 2005, increasing the matriculation of participating students into graduate
and professional programs. These grant-funded initiatives have been a catalyst for
enhancing our STEM-specific infrastructure and brought more than $12 million to Winthrop over the years.
For 10 years Winthrop’s McNair Scholars program has helped high-achieving, first-generation undergraduate students from low-income
backgrounds and under-represented students prepare for graduate school. With the help
of PwC, the business college’s AMPD program provides under-represented accounting students the tools they need to realize their
dreams of a career as certified professional accountants.
Our student-athletes have a strong record of success in the classroom and in competition. The athletics program boasts 75 Big South Championship regular season titles and
64 Big South Conference tournament championship titles.
We are one of only seven institutions world-wide formally affiliated with the Foundation for Critical Thinking for integrating and
teaching critical thinking in a substantive way, equipping students with superior critical and analytical reasoning skills.
Veterans pursuing higher education look for participating institutions like Winthrop—called
yellow ribbon schools—that make funds available to help them maximize their educational benefits. We have
dedicated student services that support veterans and those currently serving, and
our efforts were recently recognized with a Purple Heart University designation.
Every two years our first-year students and seniors share about their participation in offerings we provide for their learning and personal development, showing us how we are doing on the “desired outcomes of college.” In almost every category of evaluation, our students place us at or above the national average.
