Eastern dropped 10 places in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2007 edition of “America’s Best College” ranking, but President Hencken said he’s not going to jump off a building over it.

“There are other things for me that are more important: enrollment, graduation rates, freshmen to sophomore retention rates. Are we able to attract and recruit quality faculty members?”

Eastern ranked in the top tier of four tiers, putting the university at 47th out of 142 ranks according to the report, which runs today in the magazine.

This is the seventh year that Eastern has ranked in the top tier.

Eastern was one of four schools that ranked 47th. Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and Western Illinois University tied for a 51st ranking.

Rankings are based on schools’ academic reputations, student selectivity, faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, financial resources and alumni giving.

Hencken attributes the university’s drop to the way the report is compiled. Administrators are sent a survey where they rank the universities in their regions.

“When I get the form to fill it out, it’s at least a five page form of all the universities in the Midwest, and I rank them,” Hencken said.

It may be that the University of Wisconsin is admitting all honors students, but if Hencken doesn’t know that, then he cannot figure that into his ranking, he said.

Hencken said he thinks Eastern’s reputation around Illinois and Indiana is very good, but administrators of universities in the other states – Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, North and South Dakota, Ohio, Minnesota and Michigan – are not as aware of what’s going on at Eastern.

“Reputation is one thing and that’s a big part of the score,” he said. “Last year, we were 37th, but one point different last year (and) we would have been 51st. You never know how people are going to fill the forms out. … the scores are so close. If we’d received two more points (this year), we would have been back up at 37th again “

Among all Midwestern public universities offering undergraduate degrees and some master’s degree programs, Eastern ranked tenth. Last year, Eastern ranked eighth, but the drop does not concern Hencken.

“I think being in the top 10 is very important,” he said. “If we’d dropped out (of that) then I might have been a little concerned about it.”

Eastern is the only Illinois university in the top 12 of its class.

While Hencken points to Eastern’s outstanding success on it’s reaccredidation report through the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association as a more accurate reflection of Eastern’s strengths, he said he is pleased with the U.S. News and World Report’s findings.

“We are very proud to once again be ranked among the best in our class,” he said. “Our success is a direct result of our caring, hardworking faculty and staff working with our outstanding students. I commend them all for excelling at what they do.”