TIFTON — Already in the midst of its 100th birthday celebration, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College got the icing on the cake Monday when the college was selected as the 10th best community college in the nation by “Washington Monthly.”

“I think it’s great,” ABAC President David Bridges said. “From my understanding, these rankings were based on a number of factors. With our number of graduates, academic programs, athletics, and on-campus housing, we meet the needs of a wide variety of students.”

In the “Washington Monthly,” rankings compiler Kevin Carey said, “Our methodology was designed to identify community colleges that excel in using teaching methods that researchers have linked to increased student achievement. We also wanted to identify colleges that are successful in helping students earn degrees.”

Carey, a research and policy manager at “Education Sector,” a Washington-based independent, nonpartisan think tank, said the rankings were based primarily on two sources, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and graduation rate statistics compiled by the United States Department of Education.

“I think it’s a fact that most ABAC students really like what we have to offer here,” Bridges said. “Class sizes are relatively small so we have plenty of one-on-one attention. The faculty is outstanding. The staff is very helpful.”

Bridges has a historical perspective on the issue since he is the only ABAC president also to have been a student at the institution. He graduated with the Class of 1978.

ABAC will have an even greater opportunity to expand its scope in years to come with new four-year degree programs in diversified agriculture and turfgrass and golf course management coming on board in the spring term.

Dr. Donna Miller, the ABAC director of institutional research, said the college administered the CCSSE in 2005 to a sampling of about 1,000 ABAC students. She said the purpose of the survey was to gain students’ reaction to their college experience and their engagement in learning. Miller plans to administer the survey again in 2008.

In the rankings, comparisons were based on the CCSSE categories including “Active and Collaborative Learning,” “Student Effort,” “Academic Challenge,” “Student-Faculty Interaction,” and “Support for Learners.” The Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System graduation rates were used.

ABAC’s top numbers came in student faculty interaction, where the college had the second highest marks among the top 10, and in academic challenge, where ABAC placed third among the top 10. ABAC awarded 540 degrees during the 2006 calendar year, the most in recent history.

Atlanta Technical College was ranked first followed by Cascadia (Wash.) Community College, Southern University at Shreveport (La.), Southwestern (N.C) Community College, Hazard (Ky.) Community and Technical College, North Florida Community College, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Southeastern Kentucky Community and Technical College, Zane (Ohio) State College, and ABAC.

The rankings included the top 30 community colleges in the U.S. No other community colleges in Georgia besides Atlanta Tech and ABAC made the list.